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THE 


SATIRES  OF  JUVENAL 


LITERALLY  TRANSLATED, 
WITH  EXPLANATORY  NOTES, 

BY  THE 

Rev.  lewis  EVANS,  M.A. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

EDWAKD  BROOKS,  Jr. 


PHILADELPHIA 

DAVID  McKAY,  PUBLISHER 

604-8  South  Washington  Square 


Copyright,  1896,  by  David  McEjly. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  a  translation  of  The 
Satires  of  Juvenal.  A  "  Satire  "  is  a  ridiculing  speech  or 
essay,  and  the  origin  of  this  term  is  interesting  and 
worthy  of  notice.  The  word  ' '  satire  ' '  is  derived  from  the 
Latin  satura,  meaning  rich,  abounding,  full  of  variety. 
Satura  was  a  term  applied  to  the  vessel  in  which  the  va- 
rious productions  of  the  soil  were  offered  up  to  the  gods, 
and  thus  came  to  be  used  for  any  miscellaneous  collection 
of  things.  The  writings  of  the  early  Eoman  Satirists 
necessarily  treated  of  many  different  subjects  and  were  full 
of  various  matters.  It  was  therefore  natural  to  apply  the 
term  Satirce  to  them.  By  this  application,  however,  the 
word  lost  its  miscellaneous  signification  and  gradually 
came  to  be  used  as  signifying  a  writing  which  contained 
criticism  in  the  garb  of  ridicule. 

Decimus  Junius  Juvenalis,  the  author  of  the  following 
Satires,  was  born  about  42  A.D.,  in  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius.  The  place  of  his  birth  was  Aquinum, 
a  small  town  in  the  territory  of  the  Volsci.  Who  his 
father  was  is  not  known,  but  it  is  supposed  that  he  was 
a  freedman  of  considerable  wealth,  who  gave  his  son  a 

(V) 


vi 


INTRODUCTION. 


liberal  education  and  procured  for  him  the  advantages  of 
association  with  the  eminent  and  distinguished  men  of 
the  time. 

The  materials  for  a  biography  of  Juvenal  are  meagre 
and  unsatisfactory,  the  poet  himself  having  been  peculiarly 
reticent  in  respect  to  events  relating  to  his  life.  About  all 
that  is  known  of  him  until  he  reached  the  age  of  forty  is 
that  he  spent  much  time  in  perfecting  himself  in  the  art 
of  declamation,  not  so  much  with  the  intention  of  fitting 
himself  for  the  profession  of  an  advocate,  as  to  conform  to 
the  custom  of  the  age  and  for  his  own  amusement. 

About  the  age  of  forty,  Juvenal  seems  to  have  discovered 
his  true  bent.  Domitian,  who  had  succeeded  his  prede- 
cessor Titus,  was  in  a  fair  way  to  revive  that  system  of  fa- 
voritism which  had  threatened  the  empire  with  destruction 
under  Claudius.  The  object  of  the  emperor's  favor  was 
Paris,  a  young  pantomime  dancer.  Against  him  were 
hurled  the  first  shafts  of  that  satire  which  was  destined  to 
make  the  masters  of  the  world  tremble  on  their  thrones  and 
strike  at  the  root  of  the  most  powerful  vices  of  the  age. 

A  few  lines  were  composed  on  Paris,  which  were  not 
read  in  public  on  account  of  th^  fear  of  informers,  with 
which  the  reign  swarmed,  but  were  quietly  circulated 
among  the  author's  friends.  These  verses  having  met 
with  much  commendation,  Juvenal  was  induced  to  add  to 
and  perhaps  entirely  re-write  the  original  sketch. 

This  composition  as  revised  is  now  known  as  the 
Seventh  Satire,  and  was  read  in  public  before  a  numerous 
assemblage.  Paris,  on  being  informed  of  this,  was  greatly 
incensed  and  complained  to  the  emperor,  who,  according 
to  some  authorities,  punished  Juvenal  by  sending  him  to 


INTRODUCTION, 


vii 


-  Egypt  with  a  military  command.  Other  authorities  con- 
tend,  that  inasmuch  as  shortly  after  the  pubhcation  of 
these  verses,  the  favorite  Paris  was  disgraced  and  put  to 
death,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  banishment  of  Juvenal  ever 
took  place. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  Juvenal  was  in  Egypt.  In 
95  A.  D.  Domitian  exiled  all  the  philosophers  from  Italy 
with  many  circumstances  of  cruelty.  Juvenal,  while 
strictly  speaking,  not  a  philosopher,  at  all  events  thought 
it  prudent  to  withdraw  from  Italy,  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  his  visit  to  Egypt  is  rightly  attributed  to  this  period 
of  his  life. 

Two  years  later  Domitian  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Nerva,  who  recalled  the  exiled  philosophers.  From  this 
time  on  it  is  almost  certain  that  Juvenal  was  in  Rome  de- 
voting himself  to  literary  composition,  until  he  died, 
which  was  about  the  year  125  A.D. 

The  most  celebrated  of  the  Roman  writers  of  Satire 
were  Lucilius,  Horace,  Persius  and  Juvenal,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  order  named,  and  of  these  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  Juvenal  possesses  the  greatest  claims  to  dis- 
tinction, though  whether  this  is  due  to  the  superior 
quality  of  his  writings,  or  to  the  time  at  which  he  wrote, 
is  a  point  on  which  authorities  differ. 

Certain  it  is  that  J uvenal  wrote  at  a  time  well  calcu- 
lated to  make  him  effective  as  a  Satirist.  The  Emperor 
Domitian,  during  whose  reign  the  first  Satire  was  written, 
seems  to  have  inherited  and  combined  in  one  human 
being  all  the  vices  of  his  predecessors.  Superior  to  Tibe- 
rius in  hypocrisy,  more  bloody  than  the  cruel  Caligula, 
and  the  equal  of  Claudius  in  sottishness,  he  well  merited 


viii 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  opprobrious  appellation  of  a  "lump  of  clay  kneaded 
up  with  blood. "  The  follies  and  vices  of  Eome  were  per- 
haps never  greater  than  at  this  time,  and  gave  abundant 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  Sat- 
irists. 

A  comparison  of  the  writings  of  these  Satirists  does 
not,  however,  prove  that  Juvenal's  title  to  superiority  is 
entirely  based  upon  the  chance  of  his  having  written  in 
the  reign  of  Domitian. 

Of  Lucilius  too  little  remains  to  enable  us  to  form  an 
accurate  opinion  of  the  merits  of  his  writings.  His  style, 
however,  seems  to  bear  upon  it  the  impress  of  strength 
rather  than  delicacy  of  expression,  and  his  criticisms  in 
many  instances  seem  harsh  and  violent. 

Horace  was  gay  and  lively  in  his  censures,  and  was  un- 
doubtedly well  fitted  for  the  period  of  which  he  wrote. 
One  of  his  chief  charms  is  his  frank  communicativeness, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  seems  to  take  his  reader  into  his 
confidence.  His  writings,  however,  lack  that  energy  and 
force  of  expression  which  characterize  the  Satires  of 
Juvenal. 

Persius  was  not  originally  a  writer  of  Satire,  and  it  is 
possible  that  he  mistook  his  talents  when  he  applied  him- 
self to  this  kind  of  writing.  As  a  moral  and  philosophi- 
cal poet,  he  is  entitled  to  great  distinction.  In  his  Satires, 
however,  there  is  a  noticeable  lack  of  that  knowledge  of 
human  nature  with  which  the  writings  of  both  Horace 
and  Juvenal  are  so  replete. 

Juvenal's  Satires  are  characterized  by  energy  of  expres- 
sion, great  passion  and  indignation.  His  great  aim  was 
to  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  vicious,  and  to  uproot 


INTRODUCTION. 


ix 


vice  from  the  hold  which  it  had  obtained  in  the  empire. 
That  greater  success  did  not  attend  his  efforts  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  times  demanded  the  severity  of  the  exe- 
cutioner rather  than  the  censor.  One  of  the  greatest 
charms  of  Juvenal,  and  possibly  that  which  has  been 
largely  instrumental  in  obtaining  for  him  the  title  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Roman  Satirists,  is  that  in  depicting 
character  and  in  terms  of  expression  he  is  essentially 
modern. 

To  the  charge  of  indecency,  which  is  sometimes  brought 
against  him,  it  may  be  said  that  there  are  other  Latin 
authors  who  are  equally  guilty  in  this  respect,  and  that 
Juvenal  wrote  with  the  purpose  of  denouncing  vices  and 
indecencies  of  conduct  such  as  had  probably  never  been 
known  or  thought  of  by  other  writers. 
1« 


JUVENAL'S  SATIRES. 


SATIRE  I. 


ARGUMENT, 

This  Satire  seems,  from  several  incidental  circumstances,  to  have 
been  produced  subsequently  to  most  of  them  ;  and  was  probably 
drawn  up  after  the  author  had  determined  to  collect  and  publish 
his  works,  as  a  kind  of  Introduction. 

He  abruptly  breaks  silence  with  an  impassioned  complaint  of  the 
importunity  of  bad  writers,  and  a  resolution  of  retaliating  upon 
them :  and  after  ridiculing  their  frivolous  taste  in  the  choice  of 
their  subjects,  declares  his  own  intention  to  devote  himself  to  Sat- 
ire. After  exposing  the  corruption  of  men,  the  profligacy  of  women, 
the  luxury  of  courtiers,  the  baseness  of  informers  and  fortune-hun- 
ters, the  treachery  of  guardians,  and  the  peculation  of  officers  of 
state,  he  censures  the  general  passion  for  gambling,  the  servile  ra- 
pacity of  the  patricians,  the  avarice  and  gluttony  of  the  rich,  and 
the  miserable  poverty  and  subjection  of  their  dependents ;  and  after 
some  bitter  reflections  on  the  danger  of  satirizing  living  villainy, 
concludes  with  a  resolution  to  attack  it  under  the  mask  of  departed 
names. 


Must  I  always  be  a  hearer  only  ?  Shall  I  never  retaliate,  ^ 
though  plagued  so  often  with  the  Theseid  of  Codrus,  ^  hoarse 
with  reciting  it  f  Shall  one  man,  then,  recite^  to  me  his  Come- 
dies, and  another  his  Elegies,  with  impunity?   Shall  huge 

1  Eeponam,  '*  repay  in  kind."  A  metaphor  taken  from  the  payment 
of  debts. 

2  Codrus :  a  poor  poet  in  every  sense,  if,  as  some  think,  he  is  the 
same  as  the  Codrus  mentioned  iii.,  203. 

^  Eecitaverit.  For  the  custom  of  Roman  writers  to  recite  their  com- 
positions in  public,  cf  Sat.  vii.,  40,  83  ;  iii.,  9.  Plin.,  1,  Ep.  xiii., que- 
ritur  se  diem  perdidisse."  Togata  is  a  comedy  on  a  Roman  subject; 
Prsetexta,  a  tragedy  on  the  same  ;  Elegi,  trifling  love-songs. 


12 


JUVENAL. 


**Telephus"  waste  a  whole  day  for  me,  or  Orestes,"  with 
the  margin  of  the  manuscript  full  to  the  very  edge,  and  writ- 
ten on  the  back  too,^  and  yet  not  finished,  and  I  not  retort? 

No  one  knows  his  own  house  better  than  I  do  the  grove  of 
Jlars,  and  Vulcan's  cave  close  to  the  ^olian  rocks.  The 
agency  of  the  winds, what  ghosts  ^acus  is  torturing, 
whence  another  bears  off  the  gold^  of  the  stolen  fleece,  what 
huge  mountain -ashes  Monychus  hurls,  all  this  the  plane- 
groves  of  Fronto,'^  and  the  statues  shaken  and  the  columns 
split  by  the  eternal  reciter,  are  for  ever  re-echoing.  You 
may  look  for  the  same  themes  from  the  greatest  poet  and  the 
least. 

And  yet  I  too  have  shirked  my  hand  away  from  the  rod.^ 
I  too  have  given  advice  to  Sylla,  that  he  should  enjoy  a 
sound  sleep  by  returning  to  a  private  station.*  When  at 
every  turn  you  meet  so  many  poetasters,  it  were  a  foolish 
clemency  to  spare  paper  that  is  sure  to  be  wasted.  Yet  why 
I  rather  choose  to  trace  my  course  over  that  plain  through 
which  the  great  foster-son  of  Aurunca'  urged  his  steeds,  I 
will,  if  you  are  at  leisure,  and  with  favorable  ear  listen  to 
reason,  tell  you.  When  a  soft  eunuch®  marries  a  wife; 
when  Maevia®  transfixes  the  Tuscan  boar,  and,  with  breasts 
exposed,  grasps  the  hunting-spears ;  when  one  man  singly 


1  In  iergo.  The  ancients  usually  wrote  only  on  one  side  of  the 
parchment :  when  otherwise,  the  works  were  called  "  Opisthographi," 
and  said  to  be  written  "  a  versa  charta." 

2  Venti;  cf.  xii.,  23,  where  he  uses  "  Poetica  tempestas"  as  a  pro- 
verbial expression. 

3  Aurum;  probably  a  hit  at  Valerius  Flaccus,  his  contemporary. 

4  Julius  Pronto  was  a  munificent  patron  of  literature,  thrice  consul,  ' 
and  once  colleague  of  Trajan,  a.d.  97.  Cassiod. 

5  "Jam  agrammaticis  eruditi  recessimus."    Brit.;  and  so  Dryden. 
«  "  That  to  sleep  soundly,  he  must  cease  to  rule."  Badham. 

7  Lucilius  was  born  at  Aurunca,  anciently  called  Suessa. 

8  Spado,  for  the  reason,  vid.  Sat.  vi.,  365, 

0  Msevia.  The  passion  of  the  Roman  women  for  fighting  with  wild 
beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  was  encouraged  by  Domitian,  but  after* 
ward  restrained  by  an  edict  of  Severus. 


SATIRE  I. 


13 


vies  in  wealth  with  the  whole  body  of  patricians,  under 
whose  razor  my  beard,  grown  exuberant,  sounded  while  I 
was  in  my  prime  ;^  when  Crispinus,  one  of  the  dregs  of  the 
mob  of  the  Nile,  a  born-slave  of  Canopus,  (while  his  shoul- 
der hitches  up  his  Tyrian  cloak,  )^  airs  his  summer  ring  from 
his  sweating  fingers,  and  can  not  support  the  weight  of  his 
heavier  gem  ; — it  is  difficult  not  to  write  satire.  For  who 
can  be  so  tolerant  of  this  iniquitous  city,  who  so  case-har- 
dened,^ as  to  contain  himself!  When  there  comes  up  the 
bran-new  litter  of  Matho*  the  lawyer,  filled  with  himself ; 
and  after  him,  he  that  informed  upon  his  powerful  friend, 
and  will  soon  plunder  the  nobility,  already  close-shorn,  of 
the  little  that  remains  to  them  ;  one  whom  even  Massa  fears, 
whom  Carus  soothes  with  a  bribe  ;  or  a  Thymele  suborned 
by  some  trembling  Latinus.^  When  fellows  supplant  you, 
who  earn  their  legacies  by  night-work,  lifted  up  to  heaven® 
by  what  is  now  the  surest  road  to  the  highest  advancement, 
the  lust  of  some  ancient  harridan.  Proculeius  gets  one  poor 
twelfth  ;  but  Gillo  has  eleven  twelfths.  Each  gets  the  share 
proportioned  to  his  powers.  Well !  let  him  take  the  pur- 
chase-money of  his  blood,  and  be  as  pale  as  one  that  has 


1  "Who  reap'd  my  manly  chin's  resounding  field."  Hodgson. 
Either  Licinus,  the  freedman  of  Augustus,  is  referred  to  (Hor.  ,  A.  P., 
301),  or  more  probably  Cinnamus.  Cf.  Sat.  x.,  225.  Mart.,  vii.,  Ep. 
64. 

2  This  is  the  most  probable  meaning,  and  adopted  by  Madan  and 
Browne;  but  there  are  various  other  interpretations:  e.^;.,  "  Cum- 
bered with  his  purple  vest."  Badham.  "  With  cloak  of  Tyrian  dye. 
Changed  oft  a  da;^  for  needless  luxury."  Dryden.  "  While  he  gathers 
now,  now  flings  his  purple  open."  Gifford.  "  O'er  his  back  displays.* 
Hodgson. 

3  Ferreus,  "  so  steel' d." 

*  "  Fat  Matho  plunged  in  cushions  at  his  ease."  Badham. 

5  Cf.  Mart.,  i.,  v.,  5,  "Qua  Thymelen  spectas  derisoremque  La- 
tinum  " 

6  Ccdum.  There  is  probably  a  covert  allusion  here  to  Adrian,  who 
gained  the  empire  through  the  partiality  of  Plotina,  in  spite  of  the 
will  of  her  dying  husband  Trajan. 


14 


JUVENAL. 


trodden  on  a  snake  with  naked  heel,  or  a  rhetorician  about 
to  declaim  at  the  altar  at  Lyons.  ^ 

Why  need  I  tell  with  what  indignation  my  parched  liver 
boils,  when  here,  the  plunderer  of  his  ward  (reduced  by 
him  to  the  vilest  gains)  presses  on  the  people  with  his  crowds 
of  menials,  and  there,  he  that  was  condemned  by  a  power- 
less sentence.  (For  what  cares  he  for  infamy  while  he  re- 
tains the  plunder?)  Marius,^  though  an  exile,  drinks  from 
the  eighth  hour,  and  laughs  at  the  angry  gods,  while  thou, 
O  Province,  victorious  in  the  suit,  art  in  tears  !  Shall  I  not 
deem  these  themes  worthy  of  the  lamp  of  Venusium?^ 
Shall  I  not  lash  these  ?  Why  rather  sing  tales  of  Hercules 
or  Diomede,  or  the  bellowing  of  the  Labyrinth,  and  the  sea 
struck  by  the  boy  Icarus,  and  the  winged  artificer  ?*  When 
the  pander  inherits  the  wealth  of  the  adulterer  (since  the 
wife  has  lost  the  right  of  receiving  it),^  taught  to  gaze  at  the 
ceiling,  and  snore  over  his  cups  with  well-feigned  sleep. 
When  he  considers  himself  privileged  to  expect  the  com- 
mand of  a  cohort,  who  has  squandered  his  money  on  his 

1  Lugdunensem.  There  was  a  temple  erected  in  honor  of  Augustus 
at  Lyons,  a.u.c.  744,  and  from  the  very  first  games  were  celebrated 
there,  but  the  contest  here  alluded  to  was  instituted  by  Caligula.  Cf. 
8uet.,  Calig.,  xx.  It  was  a  "  certamen  Grseese  Latinaeque  facundiae," 
in  which  the  vanquished  were  compelled  to  give  prizes  to  the  victors, 
and  to  write  their  praises.  While  those  who  "  maxime  displicuis- 
sent "  had  to  obliterate  their  own  compositions  w-ith  a  sponge  or  their 
tongues,  unless  they  preferred  being  beaten  with  ferules,  or  ducked 
in  the  nearest  river.  Caligula  was  at  Lyons,  a.d.  40,  on  his  way  to  the 
ocean. 

2  Marius  Priscus,  proconsul  of  Africa,  was  condemned  for  extor- 
tion, a.d.  100.  Vid.  Clinton  in  a.  Plinythe  Younger  was  his  accuser, 
2  Ep.,  xi.  (Cf.  Sat.  viii.,  120,  "  Cum  tenues  nuper  Marius  discinxerit 
Afros.")  Though  condemned,  he  saved  his  money  ;  and  was,  as  Gif- 
ford  renders  it,  "  by  a  juggling  sentence  damn'd  in  vain."  The  ninth 
hour  (three  o'clock)  was  the  earliest  hour  at  which  the  temperate 
dined.  Cf  Mart.,iv.,  Ep.  8,  •'Imperatexstructosfrangerenonatoros." 
Cf.  Hor.,  i.,Od.  i..20. 

^  Venudum,  or  Venusia,  the  birth-place  of  Horace. 
^  "  Vitreo  daturus  nomina  Ponto."   Hor.,  iv.,  Od.  ii.,  3. 
5  Jus  nullum  uxori.    Cf.  Suet.,  Dom.,  viii.    "  Probrosis  foeminis 
ademit  jus  capiendi  legata  haereditatesque. " 


SATIRE  I. 


15 


stables,  and  has  run  through  all  his  ancestors'  estate,  while 
he  flies  with  rapid  wheel  along  the  Flaminian  road  ;^  for 
while  yet  a  youth,  like  Automedon,  he  held  the  reins,  while 
the  great  man  showed  himself  off  to  his  ^ '  mistress-in-his 
cloak.  "2  Do  you  not  long  to  fill  your  capacious  tablets, 
even  in  the  middle  of  the  cross-ways,  when  there  comes 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  six  slaves,  exposed  to  view  on 
either  side,  with  palanquin  almost  uncurtained,  and  aping 
the  luxurious  Maecenas,  the  forger,  who  made  himself  a  man 
of  splendor  and  wealth  by  a  few  short  lines,  and  a  moistened 
seal?^  Next  comes  the  powerful  matron,  who  when  her 
husband  thirsts,  mingles  the  toad's-poison  in  the  mellow 
wine  of  Cales  w^hich  she  is  herself  about  to  hand  him,  and 
with  skill  superior  even  to  Locusta,*  initiates  her  neighbors, 
too  simple  before,  in  the  art  of  burying  their  husbands, 
livid  from  the  poison,  in  despite  of  infamy  and  the  public 
gaze.  ^ 

Dare  some  deed  to  merit  scanty  Gyarus^  and  the  jail,  if 
you  wish  to  be  somebody.  Honesty  is  commended,  and 
starves.  It  is  to  their  crimes  they  are  indebted  for  their 
gardens,  their  palaces,  their  tables,  their  fine  old  plate,  and 


1  The  Flaminian  road  ran  the  whole  length  of  the  Campus  Martins, 
and  was  therefore  the  most  conspicuous  thoroughfare  in  Rome.  It 
is  now  the  Corso. 

2  Lacernatx.  The  Lacerna  was  a  male  garment ;  the  allusion  is 
probably  to  Nero  and  his  "  eunuch-love  "  Sporus .  Vid.  Suet.,  Nero,  28. 

3  Signator-falso,"  sc.  testamento.  Cf.  Sat.  xii.,  125,  and  Bekker's 
Charicles.  "Fram'd  a  short  will  and  gave  himself  the  whole." 
Hodgson. 

"A  few  short  lines  authentic  made. 
By  a  forged  seal  the  inheritance  convey'd."  Badham. 
^  Locusta.   Vid.  Tac.,  Ann.,  xii.,  66,67.   She  was  employed  by  Agrip- 
pina  to  poison  Claudius,  and  by  Nero  to  destroy  Germanicus.   On  the 
accession  of  Galba  she  was  executed.    Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  33. 
^  "  Reckless  of  whispering  mobs  that  hover  near."  Badham. 

"  Nor  heed  the  curse  of  the  indignant  throng."  Gifford. 
6  Gyarus,  a  barren  island  in  the  JEgesLU.  Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  iii.,  68,  69, 
"Insulam  Gyarum  immitem  et  sine  cultu  hominum  esse."   Cf.  Sat. 
X.,  170  ;  vi.,  563. 


JUVENAL. 


the  goat  standing  in  high  relief  from  the  cup.  Whom  does 
the  seducer  of  his  own  daughter-in-law,  greedy  for  gold, 
suffer  to  sleep  ?  Or  the  unnatural  brides,  or  the  adulterer 
not  out  of  his  teens  7^  If  nature  denies  the  power,  indigna- 
tion would  give  birth  to  verses,  such  as  it  could  produce, 
like  mine  and  Cluvienus'. 

From  the  time  that  Deucalion  ascended  the  mountain  in 
his  boat,  while  the  storm  upheaved  the  sea,^  and  consulted 
the  oracle,  and  the  softening  stones  by  degrees  grew  warm 
^  with  life,  and  Pyrrha  displayed  to  the  males  the  virgins  un- 
robed ;  all  that  men  are  engaged  in,  their  wishes,  fears,  an- 
ger, pleasures,  joys,  and  varied  pursuits,  form  the  hotch- 
potch of  my  book. 

And  when  was  the  crop  of  vices  more  abundant  ?  When 
were  the  sails  of  avarice  more  widely  spread  ?  When  had 
gambling  its  present  spirits  ?  For  now  men  go  to  the  hazard 
of  the  gaming-table  not  simply  with  their  purses,  but  play 
with  their  whole  chest^  staked.  What  fierce  battles  will  you 
see  there,  while  the  steward  supplies  the  weapons  for  the  con- 
test !  Is  it  then  mere  common  madness  to  lose  a  hundred 
sestertia,  and  not  leave  enough  for  a  tunic  for  your  shivering 
slave!*  Which  of  our  grandsires  erected  so  many  villas? 
Which  of  them  ever  dined  by  himself^  on  seven  courses  ?  In 
our  days  the  diminished  sportula  is  set  outside  the  threshold, 
ready  to  be  seized  upon  by  the  toga-clad  crowd.  ^    Yet  he 

1  "  The  raw  noble  in  his  boyish  gown."  Hodgson.  **  Stripling  de- 
bauchee." Gifford.  The  sons  of  the  nobility  wore  the  toga  praetexta 
till  the  age  of  seventeen. 

2  "  While  whelming  torrents  swell'd  the  floods  below."  Badham. 

3  Arcd.    Cf.  Sat.  x.,  24. 

*  Reddere.   Probably  *'to  pay  what  has  been  long  due." 

&  Secreto,  "  without  their  clients,"  opposed  to  the  "  in  propatulo  "  of 
Val.  Max.,  ii.,  5.    >jpp  e?  /cbpaxa?  iJiOv6<j)ay€.  Alex. 

6  In  former  days  the  Romans  entertained  their  clients,  after  the 
day's  ofhciam  was  over,  at  supper,  which  was  called  coena  recta." 
In  later  times,  the  clients,  instead  of  this,  received  their  portion  of 
the  supper,  which  they  carried  away  in  a  small  basket,  "sportula," 


SATIRE  I. 


17 


(that  dispenses  it),  before  giving,  scans  your  features,  and 
dreads  lest  you  should  come  with  counterfeit  pretense  and 
under  a  false  name.  When  recognized  you  will  receive  your 
dole.  He  bids  the  crier  summon  the  very  Trojugenje  them- 
selves. For  even  they  assail  the  door  with  us.  ' '  Ciive  the 
praetor  his  !  Then  to  the  tribune."  But  the  freedmen  must 
first  be  served!  ''I  was  before  him!"  he  says.  ^'Why 
should  I  fear  or  hesitate  to  stand  up  for  my  turn,  though  I 
was  born  on  the  banks  of  Euphrates,  which  the  soft  windows^ 
in  my  ears  would  attest,  though  I  myself  were  to  deny  the 
fact.  But  my  five  shops  bring  me  in  four  hundred  sestertia. 
What  does  the  Laticlave^  bestow  that's  worth  a  wish,  since 
Corvinus  keeps  sheep  for  hire  in  the  Laurentine  fields  ?  I 
own  more  than  Pallas^  and  the  Licini.  Let  the  tribunes 
wait  then  !"  Let  Eiches  carry  the  day,  and  let  not  him 
give  place  even  to  the  sacrosanct  magistrate,  who  came  but 
the  other  day  to  this  city  with  chalked  feet.  *  Since  with  us 
the  most  revered  majesty  is  that  of  riches  ;  even  though  as 
yet,  pernicious  money,  thou  dwellest  in  no  temple,  nor  have 
we  as  yet  reared  altars  to  coin,  as  we  worship  Peace  .ana 
Faith,  Victory  and  Virtue,  and  Concord,  whose  temple  re- 
sounds with  the  noise  of  storks  returning  to  their  nests.  5 

or  a  kind  of  portable  kitchen.  Cf.  iii.,  249.  This  was  again  changed, 
and  an  equivalent  in  money  (centum  quadrantes,  about  twenty- 
pence  English)  given  instead.  Domitian  restored  the  *'  ccena  recta." 
Cf.  Snet.,  Dom.,  vii.  ;  Nero,  xvi. 

1  Fenestrse.   Cf.  Xen.,  Anab.,  III.,  i.,  31.   Exob.,  xxi.,  6. 

2  "Shall  I  then  yield,  though  born  perchance  a  slave, 

To  the  proud  beggar  in  his  laticlave?"  Hodgson. 

3  Pallas,  the  freedman  of  Claudius,  was  enormously  rich.  The 
wealth  and  splendor  of  Licinus  is  again  alluded  to,  Sat.  xiv.,  305. 

^  Fedibus  albis.  The  feet  of  imported  slaves  were  marked  with 
chalk.   Cf.  Sat.  vii.,  16.    Plin.,  H.  N.,  xxxv.,  17. 

5  Salutato  crepitat.  It  refers  either  to  the  chattering  of  the  young 
birds,  when  the  old  birds  who  have  been  in  quest  of  food  return  to 
their  nests  (the  whole  temple  being  deserted  by  men,  serves,  as  the 
Schol.  says,  for  a  nidus  to  birds) ;  or,  to  the  noise  made  by  the  old 
birds  striking  their  beaks  to  announce  their  return.  Cf.  Ov.,  Met., 
vi.,  97. 


i8  '  JUVENAL. 


But  when  a  magistrate  of  the  highest  rank  reckons  up  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  what  the  sportula  brings  him  in,  how 
much  it  adds  to  his  revenue,  what  shall  the  poor  retainers 
do,  who  look  to  this  for  their  toga,  for  their  shoes,  their 
bread  and  fire  at  home  ?  A  closely -wedged  crowd  of  litters 
is  clamorous  for  the  hundred  quadrantes,  and  his  wife,  though 
sick  or  pregnant,  accompanies  and  goes  the  rounds  with  her 
husband.  One  practicing  a  crafty  trick  now  worn  thread- 
bare, asks  for  his  wife  though  really  absent,  displaying  in 
her  stead  an  empty  and  closed  palanquin  :  "  My  Galla  is  in- 
side," he  says,  dispatch  us  with  all  speed.  Why  hesi- 
tate?" ''Put  out  your  head,  Galla!"  ''O  don't  disturb 
her  !  she's  asleep  !  " 

The  day  is  portioned  out  with  a  fine  routine  of  engage- 
ments. First  the  sportula  ;  then  the  Forum,  ^  and  Apollo 
learned  in  the  law  ;  and  the  triumphal  statues,  among  which 
some  unknown  Egyptian  or  Arabarch  has  dared  set  up  his 
titles,  whose  image,  as  though  sacred,  one  dare  not  venture 
to  defile.^  At  length,  "the  old  and  wearied-out  clients  quit 
the  vestibule  and  give  up  all  their  hopes  ;*  although  their 
expectation  of  a  dinner  has  been  full-long  protracted  :  the 
poor  wretches  must  buy  their  cabbage  and  fire.  Meanwhile 
their  patron-lord  will  devour  the  best  that  the  forest  and 
ocean  can  supply,  and  will  recline  in  solitary  state  with  none 

1  Ordine  rerum.  Cf.  Mart,  iv.,  Ep.  8.  The  Forum  is  the  old  Forum 
Romanum. 

2  Apollo,  i.e.,  the  Forum  Augusti  on  the  Palatine  Hill.  In  the  court 
where  pleas  were  held  stood  an  ivory  statue  of  Apollo.  Cf.  Hor.,  i., 
Sat.  ix.,  78. 

3  "And  none  must  venture  to  pollute  the  place."  Hodgson.  Tan- 
tum,  i.e.,  tantummodo.  Cf.  Pers.,  i.  Sat.,  114,  Sacer  est  locus,  ite  pro- 
fani,  Extra  meiete ! 

4  To  all  these  places  the  client  attends  his  patron ;  then,  on  his 
return,  the  rich  man's  door  is  closed,  and  he  is  at  liberty  to  return 
home  without  any  invitation  to  remain  to  dinner. 

The  day's  attendance  closed,  and  evening  come, 
The  uninvited  client  hies  him  home."  Badham. 


SATIRE  I.  19 

but  himself  on  his  couches.  For  out  of  so  many  fair,  and 
broad,  and  such  ancient  dishes,  they  gorge  whole  patri- 
monies at  a  single  course.  In  our  days  there  will  not  be 
even  a  parasite  !  Yet  who  could  tolerate  such  sordid  luxury  ! 
How  gross  must  that  appetite  be,  which  sets  before  itself 
whole  boars,  an  animal  created  to  feast  a  whole  company  ! 
Yet  thy  punishment  is  hard  at  hand,  when  distended  with 
food  thou  layest  aside  thy  garments,  and  bearest  to  the  bath 
the  peacock  undigested  !  Hence  sudden  death,  and  old  age 
without  a  will.  The  news  ^  travels  to  all  the  dinner-tables, 
but  calls  forth  no  grief,  and  thy  funeral  procession  advances, 
exulted  over  by  disgusted  friends  1^  There  is  nothing  far- 
ther that  future  times  can  add  to  our  immorality.  Our  pos- 
terity must  have  the  same  desires,  perpetrate  the  same  acts. 
Every  vice  has  reached  its  climax.  Then  set  sail !  spread 
all  your  canvas  !  Yet  here  perchance  you  may  object, 
whence  can  talent  be  elicited  able  to  cope  with  the  subject? 
Whence  that  blunt  freedom  of  our  ancestors,  whose  very 
name  I  dare  not  utter,  of  writing  whatever  was  dictated  by 
their  kindling  soul.  What  matter,  whether  Mucins  forgive 
the  libel,  or  not  ?  But  take  Tigellinus  for  your  theme,  and 
^^o\l  will  shine  in  that  tunic,  in  which  they  blaze  standing,* 
who  smoke  with  throat  transfixed,  and  you  will  draw  a  broad 
furrow  in  the  middle  of  the  sand.  ^'  Must  he  then,  who  has 
given*  aconite  to  his  three  uncles,  be  borne  on  down  cush- 
ions, suspended  aloft,  and  from  thence  look  down  on  us?" 
Yes  !  when  he  meets  you  press  your  finger  to  your  lip  ! 

1  Nova.   "  By  witty  spleen  increased."  Gifford. 

2  "Friends,  unenrich'd,  shall  revel  o'er  your  bier, 

Tell  the  sad  news,  nor  grace  with  a  tear."  Hodgson. 

3  Taeda.  Cf.  viii.,  235,  *'Ausi  quod  libeat  tunica  punire  molesta." 
Tac.,  Ann.,  xv.,  44,  "  Aut  crucibus  adfixi,  aut  flammandi,  atque  ubi 
defecisset  dies,  in  usum  nocturni  luminis  urerentur."  Sen.,  de  Ira, 
iii.,  3,   Circumdati  defixis  corporibus  ignes." 

4  Qui  dedit.   i.e. ,  Tigellinus. 


20 


JUVENAL. 


There  will  be  some  informer  standing  by  to  whisper  in  his 
ear,  That's  he  !  Without  fear  for  the  consequences  you  may 
match^  JEneas  and  the  fierce  Kutulian .  The  death  of  Achilles 
breeds  ill-will  in  no  one  ;  or  the  tale  of  the  long-sought  Hy- 
las,  who  followed  his  pitcher.  But  whensoever  Lucilius, 
fired  with  rage,  has  brandished  as  it  were  his  drawn  sword, 
his  hearer,  whose  conscience  chills  with  the  remembrance 
of  crime,  grows  red.  His  heart  sweats  with  the  pressure  of 
guilt  concealed.  Then  bursts  forth  rage  and  tears  !  Ponder 
well,  therefore,  these  things  in  your  mind,  before  you  sound 
the  signal  blast.  The  soldier  when  helmeted  repents  too 
late  of  the  fight.  I  will  try  then  what  I  may  be  allowed  tp 
vent  on  those  whose  ashes  are  covered  by  the  Flaminian^  or 
Latin  road. 


SATIRE  II. 


ARGUMENT. 

This  Satire  contains  an  animated  attack  upon  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
philosophers  and  reformers  of  the  day,  whose  ignorance,  profligacy, 
and  impiety  it  exposes  with  just  severity. 

Domitian  is  here  the  object ;  his  vices  are  alluded  to  under  every  dif- 
ferent name  ;  and  it  gives  us  a  high  opinion  of  the  intrepid  spirit 
of  the  man  who  could  venture  to  circulate,  even  in  private,  so 
faithful  a  representation  of  that  blood-thirsty  tyrant. 

I  LONG  to  escape  from  hence  beyond  the  Sarmatians,  and 
the  frozen  sea,  whenever  those  fellows  who  pretend  to  be 

1  Committas,  a  metaphor  from  pairing  or  matching  gladiators  in  the 
arena. 

"Achilles  may  in  epic  verse  be  slain, 
And  none  of  all  his  myrmidons  complain  ; 
Hylas  may  drop  his  pitcher,  none  will  cry, 
Not  if  he  drown  himself  for  company."  Dryden. 

2  Flaminid.  The  laws  of  the  xii.  tables  forbade  all  burials  within 
the  city.  The  road-sides,  therefore,  were  lined  with  tombs.  Hence 


SATIRE  II. 


21 


Curii  and  live  like  Bacchanals  presume  to  read  a  lecture  on 
morality.  First  of  all,  they  are  utterly  unlearned,  though 
you  may  find  all  their  quarters  full  of  busts  of  Chrysippus. 
For  the  most  finished  scholar  among  them  is  he  that  has 
bought  an  image  of  Aristotle  or  Pittacus,  or  bids  his  shelves 
retain  originals  of  Cleanthes.  There  is  no  trusting  to  the  out- 
side !  For  what  street  is  there  that  does  not  overflow  with 
debauchees  of  demure  exterior  ?  Dost  thou  reprove  abom- 
ination, that  art  thyself  the  most  notorious  sink  among  cata- 
mites who  pretend  to  follow  Socrates  ?  Thy  rough  limbs  in- 
deed, and  the  stiff  bristles  on  thy  arms,  seem  to  promise  a 
vigorous  mind  within  ;  but  on  thy  smooth  behind,  the  sur- 
geon with  a  smile  lances  the  swelling  piles.  These  fellows 
affect  a  paucity  of  words,  and  a  wonderful  taciturnity,  and 
the  fashion  of  cutting  their  hair  shorter  than  their  eyebrows. 
There  is  therefore  more  frankness  and  sincerity  in  Peri- 
bomius ;  the  man  that  by  his  very  look  and  gait  makes  no 
secret  of  his  depravity,  I  look  upon  as  the  victim  of  destiny. 
The  plain-dealing  of  the  latter  class  excites  our  pity  ;  their 
very  madness  pleads  for  our  forgiveness.  Far  worse  are 
they  who  in  Hercules^  vein  practice  similar  atrocities,  and 
preaching  up  virtue,  perpetrate  the  foulest  vice.  Shall  I 
feel  any  dread  for  thee,  Sextus,  unnatural  thyself?"  says  the 
infamous  Varillus.  How  am  I  worse  than  thou  ?  Let  the 
straight-limbed,  if  you  please,  mock  the  bandy-legged  ;  the 
fair  European  sneer  at  the  Ethiop.  But  who  could  tolerate 
the  Gracchi  if  they  railed  at  sedition  ?  Who  would  not  con- 
found heaven  with  earth,  and  sea  with  sky,^  if  a  thief  were 

the  common  beginning  of  epitaphs,  "  Siste  gradum  viator."  The  pe- 
culiar propriety  of  the  selection  of  these  two  roads  is  the  fact  that 
Domitian  was  buried  by  the  Flaminian,  and  Paris,  the  mime,  Juve- 
nal's personal  enemy,  by  the  liatin  road. 

1  Alluding  to  the  comic  exclamation,  "  O  Coelum,  O  Terra,  0  Maria 
Neptuni."   Vid.  Ter.,  Adelph,,  v.,  i.,  4.   Cf.  Sat.  vi.,  283. 


22 


JUVENAL. 


odious  to  Verres,  or  a  murderer  to  Milo  ?  If  Clodius  were 
to  impeach  adulterers,  or  Catiline  Cethegus?  If  Sylla's 
three  pupils  were  to  declaim  against  Sylla's  proscriptions? 
Such  was  the  case  of  the  adulterer  recently^  defiled  by  in- 
cest, such  as  might  be  found  in  Greek  tragedy,  who  then  set 
himself  to  revive  those  bitter  laws  which  all  might  tremble 
at,  ay,  even  Venus  and  Mars,  at  the  same  time  that  Julia 
was  relieving  her  fruitful  womb  by  so  many  abortives,  2  and 
gave  birth  to  shapeless  masses,  the  image  of  her  uncle  ! 
Might  not  then,  with  all  reason  and  justice,  even  the  very 
worst  of  vices  look  with  contempt  on  these  counterfeit 
Scauri,  and  if  censured  turn  and  bite  again  ? 

Lauronia  could  not  endure  some  fierce  reformer  of  this  class 
S30  often  exclaiming,  ''Where  is  now  the  Julian  law?  is  it 
slumbering  ? ' '  and  thus  silenced  him  with  a  sneer  :  ' '  Blest 
days  indeed  !  that  set  thee  up  as  a  censor  of  morals  !  Eome 
now  must  needs  retrieve  her  honor !  A  third  Cato  has 
dropped  from  the  clouds.  But  tell  me,  pray,  where  do  you 
buy  these  perfumes  that  exhale  from  your  neck,  all  hairy 
though  it  be  !  Do  not  be  ashamed  to  tell  the  shopman's  name. 
But  if  old  laws  and  statutes  are  to  be  raked  up,^  before  all 
others  the  Scatinian  ought  to  be  revived.  First  scrutinize 
and  look  into  the  conduct  of  the  men.  They  commit  the 
greater  atrocities  ;  but  it  is  their  number  protects  them,  and 
their  phalanxes  close  serried  with  their  shields.  There  is  a 
wonderful  unanimity  among  these  effeminates.  You  will  not 
find  one  single  instance  of  such  execrable  conduct  in  our 

^  JSuper.  The  allusion  is  to  Domitian  and  his  niece  Julia,  who  dijsd 
from  the  use  of  abortives  (cf.  Plln.,  iv.,  Epist.  xi. :  "Vidua  abortu 
periit  "),  cir.  a.d.  91.  This,  therefore,  fixes  the  date  of  the  Satire, 
which  was  probably  one  of  Juvenal's  earliest,  and  written  when  he 
was  about  thirty.   Cf.  Sat.  xiii.,  17. 

2  Cf.  vi.,  368. 

3  Vexantur.  E  somno  excitantur,  alluding  to  '*  Lex  Julia  Dormis?  " 
Cf.  i.,  126. 


SATIRE  II. 


gex  Taedia  does  not  caress  Clu  via,  nor  Flora  Catulla.  Hispo 
acts  both  sex's  parts,  and  is  pale  with  two-handed  lust. 
Do  we  ever  plead  causes  ?  Do  we  study  civil  law  ?  or  disturb 
your  courts  with  any  clamor  of  our  tongues  ?  A  few  of  us 
perhaps  may  wrestle,  or  diet  themselves  on  the  trainer's 
food  ;  but  only  a  few.  You  men,  you  spin  wool,  and  carry 
home  in  women's  baskets  your  finished  tasks.  You  men  twist 
the  spindle  big  with  its  fine-drawn  thread  more  deftly  than 
Penelope,  more  nimbly  than  Arachne ;  work,  such  as  the  dirty 
drab  does  that  sits  crouching  on  her  log.  Every  one  knows 
why  Hister  at  his  death  made  his  freedman  his  sole  heir, 
while,  when  alive,  he  gave  his  maiden  wife^  so  many  pre- 
sents. She  will  be  rich  without  a  doubt,  who  will  submit  to 
lie  third  in  the  wide  bed.  Get  married  then,  and  hold  your 
tongue,  and  earrings^  will  be  the  guerdon  of  your  silence  ! 
And  after  all  this,  forsooth,  a  heavy  sentence  is  to  be  passed 
on  us  women  !  Censure  acquits  the  raven,  but  falls  foul  of 
the  dove  ! " 

From  this  rebuke  so  true  and  undeniable,  the  counterfeit 
Stoics  recoiled  in  confusion.  For  what  grain  of  untruth  was 
there  in  Lauronia's  words?  Yet,  what  will  not  others  do, 
when  thou,  Creticus,  adoptest  muslin  robes,  and  to  the 
amazement  of  the  people,  inveighest  in  such  a  dress  against 
Procula  or  Pollinea  ? 

Fabulla,  thou  sayest,  is  an  adulteress.  Then  let  her  be 
condernned,  if  you  will  have  it  so,  and  Carfinia  also.  Yet 
though  condemned,  she  would  not  put  on  such  a  dress  as 
that.    *'But  it  is  July,  it  is  raging  hot,  I  am  on  fire!" 

^  The  whole  of  this  ironical  defense  contains  the  bitterest  satire 
upon  the  women  of  Rome,  as  all  these  crimes  he  proves  in  the  6th 
Satire  to  be  of  every-day  occurrence. 

2  Puellx.   Cf.  Sat.  ix.,  70,  seq. 

3  Cylindros,  called,  vi.,  459,  "Elenchos."   Cf.  Arist.,  Fr.,  309,  eAt<c- 


24 


JUVENAL. 


Then  plead  stark  naked  !^  To  be  thought  mad  would  be  a 
less  disgrace  !  Is  that  a  dress  to  propound  laws  and  statutes 
in,  in  the  ears  of  the  people  when  flushed  with  victory,  with 
their  wounds  yet  green,  or  that  noble  race,  fresh  from  their 
plows  ?  What  an  outcry  would  you  make,  if  you  saw  such  a 
dress  on  the  person  of  a  Judex  !  I  ask,  would  such  a  robe 
be  suitable  even  in  a  witness  ?  Creticus  !  the  implacable,  the 
indomitable,  the  champion  of  liberty,  is  transparent !  Con- 
tagion has  caused  this  plague-spot,  and  will  extend  it  to 
many  more,  just  as  a  whole  flock  perishes  in  the  fields  from 
the  scab  of  one  sheep,  or  pigs  from  mange,  and  the  grape 
contracts  the  taint  from  the  grape  it  comes  in  contact  with. 
Ere  long  you  will  venture  on  something  more  disgraceful 
even  than  this  dress.  No  one  ever  reached  the  climax  of 
vice  at  one  step.  You  will  by  degrees  enter  the  band  of 
those  who  wear  at  home  long  fillets  round  their  brows,  and 
cover  their  necks  with  jewels,  and  propitiate  Bona  Dea  with 
the  belly  of  a  young  sow  and  a  huge  bowl  of  wine  ;  but  by 
an  inverson  of  the  old  custom  womeUj  kept  far  aloof,  dare  not 
cross  the  threshold.  The  altar  of  the  goddess  is  accessible 
to  males  alone.  ' '  Withdraw,  profane  females  !  "  is  the  cry. 
No  minstrel  here  may  make  her  cornet  sound  !  Such  were 
the  orgies  by  the  secret  torch-light  which  the  Baptae  cele- 
brated, who  used  to  weary  out  even  the  Athenian  Cotytto.^ 
One  with  the  needle  held  oblique  adds  length  to  his  eye- 
brows touched  with  moistened  soot,  and  raising  the  lids 
paints  his  quivering  eyes.  Another  drains  a  Priapus-shaped 
glass,  and  confines  his  long  thick  hair  with  a  caul  of  gold 
thread,  clothed  in  sky-blue  checks,  or  close-piled  yellow 
stuffs ;  while  his  attendant  also  swears  by  Juno,  the  patron 

1  Nudus,  i.e.,  in  the  Roman  sense,  without  the  toga. 

2  Cotytto  herself,  the  goddess  of  licentiousness,  was  wearied  with 
their  impurities. 


SATIRE  II. 


25 


deity  of  his  master.  Another  holds  a  mirror,  the  weapon 
wielded  by  the  pathic  Otho,  ''the  spoil  of  Auruncan  Ac- 
tor,"^ in  which  he  surveyed  himself  when  fully  armed,  be- 
fore he  gave  the  signal  to  engage — a  thing  worthy  to  be  re- 
corded in  the  latest  annals  and  history  of  the  day,  A  mirror! 
fit  baggage  for  a  civil  war  !  O  yes,  forsooth  !  to  kill  old 
Galba  shows  the  consummate  general,  to  pamper  one's  com- 
plexion is  the  consistent  occupation  of  the  first  citizen  of 
Home  ;  to  aspire  to  the  empire  as  the  prize  on  Bebriacum's^ 
plains,  and  then  spread  over  his  face  a  poultice  applied  with 
his  fingers  !  Such  an  act  as  neither  the  quivered  Semiramis 
perpetrated  in  the  Assyrian  realms,  or  Cleopatra  flying  de- 
jected in  her  Actian  galley.  Among  this  crew  there  is 
neither  decency  of  language,  nor  respect  for  the  proprieties 
of  the  table.  Here  is  the  foul  license  that  Cybele  enjoins, 
the  lisping  speech,  the  aged  priest  with  hoary  hair,  like  one 
possessed,  a  prodigy  of  boundless  appetite,  open  to  hire. 
Yet  why  do  they  delay  ?  since  long  ago  they  ought  after  the 
Phrygian  custom  to  have  removed  with  their  knives  the 
superfluous  flesh. 

Gracchus'^  gave  four  hundred  sestertia  as  his  dowry,  with 
himself,  to  a  bugler,  or  else  one  that  blew  the  straight  trum- 
pet. The  marriage  deeds  were  duly  signed,  the  blessing  in- 
voked, a  great  dinner  provided,  the  he-bride  lay  in  the  bride- 
groom's arms.  O  nobles  !  is  it  a  censor  we  need,  or  an 
aruspex  ?  You  would  without  doubt  be  horrified,  and  deem 
it  a  prodigy  of  portentous  import,  if  a  woman  gave  birth  to 
a  calf,  or  a  cow  to  a  lamb.    The  same  Gracchus  puts  on 

1  Actoris.   Mn.,  xii.,  94. 

2  Bebriacum,  between  Verona  and  Cremona,  where  the  deciding 
battle  was  fought  between  Otho  and  Vitellius. 

^  Gracchus.  In  the  same  manner  Nero  was  married  to  one  Pytha- 
goras, "  in  modum  solennium  conjugiorum  denupsisset."  Tac, 
Ann.,  XV.,  37.   He  repeated  the  same  act  with  Sporus. 

2 


26 


JUVENAL. 


flounces,  the  long  robe  ahd  flame-colored^  veil,  who,  when 
bearing  the  sacred  shields  swinging  with  mysterious  thong, 
sweated  beneath  the  Ancilia  !  Oh  !  father  of  our  city ! 
whence  came  such  heinous  guilt  to  the  shepherds  of  Latium  ? 
Whence,  O  Gradivus,  came  this  unnatural  lust  that  has 
tainted  thy  race  ?  See  !  a  man  illustrious  in  birth  and  rank 
is  made  over  to  a  man  !  Dost  thou  neither  shake  thy  hel- 
met, nor  smite  the  earth  with  thy  lance  ?  Dost  thou  not 
even  appeal  to  thy  father  Jove  ?  Begone  then  !  and  quit 
the  acres  of  the  Campus  once  so  severe,  which  thou  ceasest 
to  care  for  !  '  ^  I  have  some  duty- work  to  perform  to-morrow 
at  break  of  day  in  the  Quirinal  valley.^'  '^What  is  the 
occasion  ?"  '  *  Why  ask  ?  my  friend  is  going  to  be  married  ; 
only  a  few  are  invited  If  we  only  live  to  see  it,  these 
things  will  be  done  in  the  broad  light  of  day,  and  claim  to 
be  registered  in  the  public  acts.  Meanwhile,  there  is  one 
grievous  source  of  pain  that  clings  to  these  male-brides,  that 
they  are  incapable  of  bearing,  and  retaining  their  lords^ 
affections  by  bringing  them  children.  No  !  better  is  it  that 
nature  in  this  case  gives  their  minds  no  power  over  their 
bodies  !  They  must  die  barren  !  Vain,  in  their  case,  is  fat 
Lyde  with  her  medicated  box  ;  vain  the  holding  out  their 
hands  to  the  nimble  Luperci. 

Yet  even  this  prodigy  of  crime  is  surpassed  by  the  trident 
of  Gracchus  in  his  gladiator's  tunic, ^  when  in  full  flight  he 
traverses  the  middle  of  the  arena.  Gracchus  !  more  nobly 
born  than  the  Manlii,  and  Marcelli,  and  Catulus'  and  Paulus* 
race,  and  the  Fabii,  and  all  the  spectators  in  the  front  row. 

1  Flammea.  Vid.  Tac,  u.  s.  *'  Inditum  imperatori  flammeum  visi, 
auspices,  dos,  et  genialis  torus  et  faces  nuptiales  :  cuncta  denique 
spectata,  quae  etiam  in  femina  nox  operit." 

2  Tunicati.  Vid.  Sat.  vi.,  256;  viii.,  203.  Movet  ecce  tridentem- 
Credamus  tunicae,  etc. 


SATIRE  II. 


27 


Ay,  even  though  you  add  to  these  the  very  man  himself,  at 

whose  expense  he  cast  his  net  as  Retiarius. 

That  there  are  departed  spirits,  and  realms  beneath  the 
earth — that  Charon's  pole  exists,  and  the  foul  frogs  in  the 
Stygian  whirlpool — and  that  so  many  thousand  souls  cross 
its  waters  in  a  single  bark,  not  even  boys  believe,  save  those 
as  yet  too  young  to  be  charged  for  their  bath.^  But  do  thou 
believe  them  true  !  What  does  Curius  feel,  and  the  two 
Scipios,  what  Fabricius  and  the  shades  of  Camillus,  what 
the  legion  cut  off  at  Cremera,  and  the  flower  of  Roman  youth 
slaughtered  at  Cannae — so  many  martial  spirits — what  do 
they  feel  when  such  a  shade  as  this  passes  from  us  to  them  ? 
They  would  long  to  be  cleansed  from  the  pollution  of  the 
contact,  could  any  sulphur  and  pine-torches  be  supplied  to 
them,  or  could  there  be  a  bay-tree  to  sprinkle  them  with 
water. 

To  such  a  pitch  of  degradation  are  we  come  !^  We  have, 
indeed,  advanced  our  arms  beyond  Juverna's  shore,  and  the 
Orcades^  recently  subdued,  and  the  Britons  content  with 
night  contracted  to  its  briefest  span.  But  those  abomina- 
tions which  are  committed  in  the  victorious  people's  city  are 
unknown  to  those  barbarians  whom  we  have  conquered. 

Yet  there  is  a  story  told  of  one,  an  Armenian  Zalates,  who, 
more  effeminate  than  the  rest  of  his  young  countrymen,  is 
reported  to  have  yielded  to  the  tribune's  lust."  See  the  re- 
sult of  intercourse  with  Rome  !  He  came  a  hostage  !  Here 
they  learn  to  be  men/    For  if  a  longer  tarry  in  the  city  be 

^  Nondum  sere  lavantur.   The  fee  was  a  quadrans  :  vi.,  447. 
2  Traducimur.   Cf.  viii.,  17.   Squalentes  traducit  avos. 
i        3  Modo  capias  Orcadas.   a.d.  78,  Clinton,  F.  R.   *'  Insulas  quas  Or- 
cadas  vocant,  invenit  domuitque."   Tac,  Agric,  c.  x. ;  cf.  c.  xii. 
"  Dierum  spatia  ultra  nostri  orbis  mensuram  :  nox  elara,  et  extreme 
Britannise  parte  brevis,  ut  finem  atque  initium  lucis  exiguo  discrimine 
'  internoscas." 


28 


JUVENAL. 


granted  to  these  youths,  they  will  never  lack  a  lover.  Their 
plaids,  and  knives,  and  bits,  and  whips,  will  soon  be  dis- 
carded. Thus  it  is  the  vices  of  our  young  nobles  are  aped 
even  at  Artaxata.^ 


SATIRE  III. 


ARGUMENT. 

Umbritius,  an  Aruspex  and  friend  of  the  author,  disgusted  at  the 
prevalence  of  vice  and  the  disregard  of  unassuming  virtue,  is  on 
the  point  of  quitting  Rome ;  and  when  a  little  way  from  the  city- 
stops  short  to  acquaint  the  poet,  who  has  accompanied  him,  with 
the  causes  of  his  retirement.  These  may  be  arranged  under  the 
following  heads  :  That  Flattery  and  Vice  are  the  only  thriving  arts 
at  Rome  ;  in  these,  especially  the  first,  foreigners  have  a  manifest 
superiority  over  the  natives,  and  consequently  engross  all  favor— 
that  the  poor  are  universally  exposed  to  scorn  and  insult— that  the 
general  habits  of  extravagance  render  it  difficult  for  them  to  sub- 
sist—that the  want  of  a  well-regulated  police  subjects  them  to 
numberless  miseries  and  inconveniences,  aggravated  by  the 
crowded  state  of  the  capital,  from  all  which  a  country  life  is  hap- 
pily free  :  on  the  tranquillity  and  security  of  which  he  dilates  with 
great  beauty. 


Although  troubled  at  the  departure  of  my  old  friend, 
yet  I  can  not  but  commend  his  intention  of  fixing  his  abode 
at  Cumse,  now  desolate,  and  giving  the  Sibyl  one  citizen  at 
least.  It  is  the  high  road  to  Baise,  and  has  a  pleasant  shore  ; 
a  delightful  retreat.  I  prefer  even  Prochyta^  to  the  Sub- 
urra.  For  what  have  we  ever  looked  on  so  wretched  or  so 
lonely,  that  you  would  not  deem  it  worse  to  be  in  constant 
dread  of  fires,  the  perpetual  falling-in  of  houses,  and  the 


1  Referunt.  Cf.  i.,  41.  "  Multum  referens  de  Maecenate  supino."  The 
fashion  is  not  only  carried  back  to  Armenia,  but  copied  there.  Prx- 
textatus.  Cf.  i.,  78.  Artaxata,  the  capital  of  Armenia,  was  taken  by 
Corbulo,  A.D.  58. 

2  Prochyta.   An  island  in  the  bay  of  Naples,  now  called  Procida. 


SATIRE  III. 


29 


thousand  dangers  of  the  cruel  city,^  and  poets  spouting  in 
the  month  of  August.  ^  But  while  his  whole  household  is 
being  stowed  in  a  single  wagon,  my  friend  Umbritius  halted 
at  the  ancient  triumphal  arches^  and  the  moist  Capena. 
Here,  where  Numa  used  to  make  assignations  with  his  noc- 
turnal mistress,  the  grove  of  the  once-hallowed  fountain  and 
the  temples  are  in  our  days  let  out  to  Jews,  whose  whole 
furniture  is  a  basket  and  bundle  of  hay.*  For  every  single 
tree  is  bid  to  pay  a  rent  to  the  people,  and  the  Camenae  hav- 
ing been  ejected,  the  wood  is  one  mass  of  beggars.  We 
descended  into  the  valley  of  Egeria  and  the  grottoes,  so 
altered  from  what  nature  made  them.  How  much  more 
should  we  feel  the  influence  of  the  presiding  genius  of  the 
spring,^  if  turf  inclosed  the  waters  with  its  margin  of  green, 
and  no  marble  profaned  the  native  tufo.  Here  then  Um- 
britius began  :^ 

* '  Since  at  Eome  there  is  no  place  for  honest  pursuits,  no 
profit  to  be  got  by  honest  toil — my  fortune  is  less  to-day 
than  it  was  yesterday,  and  to-morrow  must  again  make  that 
little  less — we  purpose  emigrating  to  the  spot  where  Daedalus 
put  off  his  wearied  wings,  while  my  gray  hairs  are  still  but 
few,  my  old  age  green  and  erect ;  while  something  yet  re- 

1  Ssevae,  "  from  the  ceaseless  alarms  it  causes."  Ssevusestqui  terret.*^ 
Donat.  in  Ter.,  Adelp.,  v.  s.  iv. 

2  Augusto.  Cf.  Plin.,  1,  Epist.  xiii.  "  Magnum  proventum  poetarum 
annus  hie  attulit ;  toto  mense  Aprili  nuUus  fere  dies  quo  non  recita- 
ret  aliquis." 

3  Either  those  of  Romulus,  or  the  aqueduct ;  and  moist  Capena," 
either  from  the  constant  dripping  of  the  aqueduct  (hence  arcus  stil- 
lans),  or  from  the  springs  near  it,  hence  called  Fontinalis  ;  now  St. 
Sebastian's  gate.   It  opens  on  the  Via  Appia. 

*  Cf.  vi.,542. 

^   *'  O  how  much  more  devoutly  should  we  cling 

To  thoughts  that  hover  round  the  sacred  spring !"  Badham. 
Read  praesentius  :  cf.  Plin.,  Ep.  viii.,  8,  the  description  of  the  Clitum- 
nus,  and  Ov.,  Met.,  iii.,  155,  seq. 

®  Umbritius  (aruspicum  in  nostro  sevo  peritissimus,  Plin.,  x.,  c.  iii.) 
is,  said  to  have  predicted  Galba's  death,  and  probably  therefore,  with 
Juvenal,  cordially  hated  Otho. 


30 


JUVENAL. 


mains  for  Lachesis  to  spin,  and  I  can  bear  myself  on  my  own 
legs,  without  a  staff  to  support  my  right  hand.  Let  us  leave 
our  native  land.  There  let  Arturius  and  Catulus  live.  Let 
those  continue  in  it  who  turn  black  to  white  ;  for  whom  it 
is  an  easy  matter  to  get  contracts  for  building  temples,  clear- 
ing rivers,  constructing  harbors,^  cleansing  the  sewers,  the 
furnishing  a  funeral,'^  and  under  the  mistress-spear  set  up 
the  slave  to  sale."^ 

These  fellows,  who  in  former  days  were  horn-blowers,  and 
constant  attendants  on  the  municipal  amphitheatres,  and 
whose  puffed  cheeks  were  well  known  through  all  the  towns, 
now  themselves  exhibit  gladiatorial  shows,  and  when  the 
thumbs  of  the  rabble  are  turned  up,  let  any  man  be  killed  to 
^  court  the  mob.  Returned  from  thence,  they  farm  the  pub- 
lic Jakes. 

And  why  not  every  thing  ?  Since  these  are  the  men  whom 
Fortune,  whenever  she  is  in  a  sportive  mood,  raises  from 
the  dust  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  greatness.* 

What  shall  I  do  at  Rome  ?  I  can  not  lie  ;  if  a  book  is  bad, 
I  can  not  praise  it  and  beg  a  copy.  I  know  not  the  motions 
of  the  stars.  I  neither  will  nor  can  promise  a  man  to  secure 
his  father's  death.  I  never  inspected  the  entrails  of  a  toad.^ 
Let  others  understand  how  to  bear  to  a  bride  the  messages 


1  Partus  may  mean,  "constructing"  or  "repairing"  harbors;  ot 
**  farming  the  harbor-dues,"  portoria. 

2  Scipio's  was  performed  by  contract.   Plin.,  H.  N.,  xxxi.,  3. 

3  The  spear  was  set  up  in  the  forum  to  show  that  an  auction  was 
going  on  there.  Hence  things  so  sold  were  said  to  be  sold  sub  hastd. 
Bomina  Implies  "  the  right  of  disposal  "  of  all  things  and  persons 
there  put  up.  This  may  mean,  therefore,  to  buy  a  drove  of  slaves 
on  speculation,  and  sell  them  again  by  auction  ;  or,  when  they  have 
squandered  their  all,  put  themselves  up  to  sale.  So  Britann.  Dry- 
den,  "For  gain  they  sell  their  very  head."  "Salable  as  slaves." 
Hodgson.   So  Browne,  who  reads  "  priebere  caput  domino." 

^  "From  abject  meanness  lifts  to  wealth  and  power."  Badham. 
Cf.  vi.,  608, 

5  "  Though  a  soothsayer,  I  am  no  astrologer."  "  I  never  examined 
the  entrails  of  a  toad.'' 


SATIRE  III. 


31 


and  presents  of  the  adulterer  ;  no  one  shall  be  a  thief  by  my 
co-operation  ;  and  therefore  I  go  forth,  a  companion  to  no 
man/  as  though  I  were  crippled,  and  a  trunk  useless  from 
its  right  hand  being  disabled.^ 

Who,  now-a-days,  is  beloved  except  the  confidant  of 
(Crime,  and  he  whose  raging  mind^  is  boiling  with  things 
concealed,  and  that  must  never  be  divulged  ?  He  that  has 
made  you  the  partaker  of  an  honest  secret,  thinks  that  he 
owes  you  nothing,  and  nothing  will  he  ever  pay.  He  will 
be  Verres'  dear  friend,  who  can  accuse  Verres  at  any  time 
he  pleases.  Yet  set  not  thou  so  high  a  price  on  all  the  sands 
of  shady  Tagus,*  and  the  gold  rolled  down  to  the  sea,  as  to 
lose  your  sleep,  and  to  your  sorrow  take  bribes  that  ought 
to  be  spumed,^  and  be  always  dreaded  by  your  powerful 
friend. 

What  class  of  men  is  now  most  welcome  to  our  rich  men, 
and  whom  I  would  especially  shun,  I  will  soon  tell  you  ; 
nor  shall  shame  prevent  me.®  It  is  that  the  city  is  become 
Greek,  Quirites,  that  I  can  not  tolerate  ;  and  yet  how  small 
the  proportion  even  of  the  dregs  of  Greece  !  Syrian  Orontes 
has  long  since  flowed  into  the  Tiber,  and  brought  with  it  its 

1  "  Therefore  (because  I  will  lend  myself  to  no  peculation)  no  great 
man  will  take  me  in  his  suite  when  he  goes  to  his  province."  Cf. 
Sat.  viii.,  127,  '*  Si  tibi  sancta  cohors  comitum."  This  is  better  than, 
"Therefore  I  leave  Rome  alone!"  Markland  proposes,  extincta 
dextra. 

2  "Like  a  dead  member  from  the  body  rent, 

Maim'd  and  unuseful  to  the  government."  Dryden. 
"  No  man's  confederate,  here  alone  I  stand. 
Like  the  maim'd  owner  of  a  palsied  hand."  Badham. 
"  Lopp'd  from  the  trunk,  a  dead,  unuseful  hand,"  Hodgson. 

3  Isa.,  lvii.,20. 

4  Opaci,  Lubin  interprets  as  equivalent  to  turbulenti,  "  turbid  with 
^old."  On  this  Grangseus  remarks,  *'  Apage  Germani  haud  germanam 
interpretationem !  opaci  enim  est  umbris  arborum  obscuri."  Cf. 
Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  50,  "  ^stus  serenos  aureo  franges  Tago  obscurus  uwbrw 
arborum.^' 

5  "Grasp  thou  no  boon  with  sadness  on  thy  brow, 

Spurn  the  base  bribe  that  binds  a  guilty  vow."  Badham. 
^     "  Shame  for  Rome  that  harbors  such  a  crew." 


32 


JUVENAL. 


language,  morals,  and  the  crooked  harps  with  the  fiate- 
player,  and  its  national  tambourines,  and  girls  made  to  stand 
for  hire  at  the  Circus.  Go  thither,  ye  who  fancy  a  barbarian 
harlot  with  embroidered  turban.  That  rustic  of  thine,  Qui- 
rinus,  takes  his  Greek  supper-cloak,  and  wears  Greek  prizes, 
on  his  neck  besmeared  with  Ceroma.^  One  forsaking  steepj 
Sicyon,  another  Amydon,  a  third  from  Andros,  another  from 
Samos,  another  again  from  Tralles,  or  Alabanda,^  swarm  to 
Esquilise,  and  the  hill  called  from  its  osiers,  destined  to  be 
the  very  vitals,  and  future  lords  of  great  houses.^  These 
have  a  quick  wit,  desperate  impudence,  a  ready  speech, 
more  rapidly  fluent  even  than  Isaeus.'^  Tell  me  what  you 
fancy  he  is  ?  He  has  brought  with  him  whatever  character 
you  wish — grammarian,  rhetorician,  geometer,  painter, 
trainer,^  soothsayer,  rope-dancer,  physician,  wizard — he 
knows  every  thing.  Bid  the  hungry  Greekling  go  to  heaven! 
He'll  go.^  In  short,  it  was  neither  Moor,  nor  Sarmatian, 
nor  Thracian,  that  took  wings,  but  one  born  in  the  heart  of 
Athens.^  Shall  I  not  shun  these  men's  purple  robes  ?  Shall 
this  fellow  take  precedence  of  me  in  signing  his  name,  and 
recline  pillowed  on  a  more  honorable  couch  than  I,  though 
imported  to  Rome  by  the  same  wind  that  brought  the  plums 


^  The  Roman  hind,  once  so  renowned  for  rough  and  manly  virtues, 
now  wears  the  costume  of  effeminate  Greeks :  or  all  these  Greek 
terms,  used  to  show  the  poet's  supreme  contempt,  may  refer  to  the 
games  :  the  Trechedipna,  not  the  thin  supper-robe,  but  the  same  as 
the  Endromis.  The  Ceroma,  an  ointment  made  of  oil,  wax,  and  clay,  • 
with  which  they  bedaubed  themselves. 

2  Amydon  in  Poeonia,  Tralles  in  Lydia,  Alabanda  in  Caria. 

3  "  Work  themselves  inward,  and  their  patrons  out,"  Dryden. 
"  Deep  in  their  patron's  heart,  and  fix'd  as  fate, 

The  future  lords  of  all  his  vast  estate."  Hodgson. 

4  M  Torrents  of  words  that  might  Isaeus  drown."  Badham. 

6  Aliptes,  one  who  anoints  (aA€i'</)ei),  and  therefore  trains,  athletes. 
«  So  Johnson.    "  All  sciences  the  hungry  Monsieur  knows, 

And  bid  him  go  to  hell — to  hell  he  goes  !  " 

7  Some  think  there  is  an  allusion  here  to  a  man  who  attempted  to 
repeat  Icarus'  experiment  before  Nero.   Vid.  Suet.,  Nero,  13. 


SATIRE  III. 


33 


and  figs  ?^  Does  it  then  go  so  utterly  for  nothing,  that  my 
infancy  inhaled  the  air  of  Aventine,  nourished  on  the  Sa- 
bine berry  ?  Why  add  that  this  nation,  most  deeply  versed 
in  flattery,  praises  the  conversation  of  an  ignorant,  the  face 
of  a  hideously  ugly  friend,  and  compares  some  weak  fellow's 
crane-like  neck  to  the  brawny  shoulders  of  Hercules,  hold- 
ing Antaeus  far  from  his  mother  Earth  :  and  is  in  raptures 
at  the  squeaking  voice  ^  not  a  whit  superior  in  sound  to  that 
of  the  cock  as  he  bites  the  hen.  We  may,  it  is  true,  praise 
the  same  things,  if  we  choose.  But  they  are  believed.  Can  he 
be  reckoned  a  better  actor,  ^  when  he  takes  the  part  of  Thais, 
or  acts  the  wife  in  the  play,  or  Doris*  without  her  robe.  It 
is  surely  a  woman  in  reality  that  seems  to  speak,  and  not  a 
man  personifying  one.  You  would  swear  it  was  a  woman, 
perfect  in  all  respects.  In  their  country,  neither  Antiochus, 
nor  Stratocles,  or  Demetrius  and  the  effeminate  Haemus, 
would  call  forth  admiration.  For  there  every  man's  an 
actor.  Do  you  smile?  He  is  convulsed  with  a  laugh  far 
more  hearty.  If  he  spies  a  tear  in  his  friend's  eye,  he 
bursts  into  a  flood  of  weeping  ;  though  in  reality  he  feels  no 
grief.  If  at  the  winter  solstice  you  ask  for  a  little  fire,  he 
calls  for  his  thick  coat.  If  you  say,  I  am  hot !  he  breaks 
into  a  sweat.  Therefore  we  are  not  fairly  matched  ;  he  has 
the  best  of  it,  who  can  at  any  time,  either  by  night  or  day, 
assume  a  fictitious  face  ;  kiss  his  hands  in  ecstasy,  quite 
ready  to  praise  his  patron's  grossest  acts  ;  if  the  golden  cup 
has  emitted  a  sound,  when  its  bottom  is  inverted. 

Besides,  there  is  nothing  that  is  held  sacred  by  these  fel- 
lows, or  that  is  safe  from  their  lust.    Neither  the  mistress 

1  Cottana,  "  ficorum  genus."   Plin.,  xiii.,  5. 

2  "  As  if  squeezed  in  the  passage  by  the  narrowness  of  the  throat." 

3  His  powers  of  flattery  show  his  ability  of  assuming  a  fictitious 
character  as  much  as  his  skill  in  acting. 

4  Or  the  "  Dorian  maid."   They  were  scantily  dressed.   Hence  the 

^aLV0fJt.r]pL8e<;  of  IbyCUS. 

2* 


\ 


34  JUVENAL. 

of  the  house,  nor  your  virgin  daughter,  nor  her  suitor,  un- 
bearded as  yet,  nor  your  son,  heretofore  chaste.  If  none  of 
these  are  to  be  found,  he  assails  his  friend's  grandmother. 
They  aim  at  learning  the  secrets  of  the  house,  and  from  that 
knowledge  be  feared. 

And  since  we  have  begun  to  make  mention  of  the  Greeks, 
pass  on  to  their  schools  of  philosophy,  and  hear  the  foul 
crime  of  the  more  dignified  cloak.  ^  It  was  a  Stoic  that  killed 
Bareas — the  informer,  his  personal  friend — the  old  man,  his 
own  pupil — bred  on  that  shore^  on  which  the  pinion  of  the 
Gorgonean  horse  lighted.  There  is  no  room  for  any  Roman 
here,  where  some  Protogenes,  or  Diphilus,  or  Erimanthus 
reigns  supreme  ;  who,  with  the  common  vice  of  his  race, 
never  shares  a  friend,  but  engrosses  him  entirely  to  himself. 
For  when  he  has  infused  into  his  patron's  too  ready  ear  one 
>  (  ■  little  drop  of  the  venom  of  his  nature  and  his  country,  I  am 
ejected  from  the  door ;  all  my  long-protracted  service  goes 
for  naught.  Nowhere  is  the  loss  of  a  client  of  less  account. 
Besides  (not  to  flatter  ourselves)  what  service  can  the  poor 
man  render,  what  merit  can  he  plead,  even  though  he  be 
zealous  enough  to  hasten  in  his  toga^  before  break  of  day, 
when  the  very  prcetor  himself  urges  on  his  lictor,  and  bids 
him  hurry  on  with  headlong  speed,  since  the  childless  ma- 
trons have  been  long  awake,  lest  his  colleague*  be  before- 

^  Major  abolla,  seems  to  be  a  proverbial  expression ;  it  may  either  be 
the  Stoic's  cloak,"  which  was  more  ample  than  the  scanty  robe  of 
the  cynic  ;  or  "  the  philosopher's  cloak,"  which  has  therefore  more 
dignity  and  weight  with  it  than  the  soldier's  or  civilian's.  The  allu- 
sion is  to  P.  Egnatius  Celer,  the  Stoic,  who  was  bribed  to  give  the 
false  testimony  on  which  Bareas  Soranus  was  convicted.  V.  Tac, 
Ann.,  xvi.,  21,  seq..  and  32. 

-  Eipa.  Commentators  are  divided  between  Tarsus,  Thebes,  and 
Corinth. 

3  Togatus.   Gifford  quotes  Martial,  x.,  Ep.  10. 

**  Quid  faciet  pauper  cui  non  licet  esse  clienti? 
Dimisit  nostras  purpura  vestra  togas." 
^  Oollega;  alluding  to  the  two  praetors,  "Urbanus"  and  "  Peri- 
grinus." 


SATIRE  III. 


35 


hand  with  him  in  paying  his  respects  to  Albina  and  Modia. 
Here,  by  the  side  of  a  slave,  if  only  rich,  walks  the  son  of  the 
free-born  ;^  for  the  other  gives  to  Calvina,  or  Catiena  (that 
he  may  enjoy  her  once  or  twice),  as  much  as  the  tribunes  in 
the  legion  receive  ;2  whereas  you,  when  the  face  of  a  well- 
dressed  harlot  takes  your  fancy,  hesitate  to  hand  Chione 
from  her  exalted  seat. 

Produce  me  at  Kome  a  witness  of  as  blameless  integrity  as 
the  host  of  the  Idaean  deity  ;^  let  Numa  stand  forth,  or  he 
that  rescued  Minerva  when  in  jeopardy  from  her  temple  all 
in  flames  :  the  question  first  put  would  be  as  to  his  income, 
that  about  his  moral  character  would  come  last  of  all.  How 
many  slaves  does  he  keep  ?  How  many  acres  of  public  land 
does  he  occupy  ?*  With  how  many  and  what  expensive  dishes 
is  his  table  spread  ?  "  In  exact  proportion  to  the  sum  of 
money  a  man  keeps  in  his  chest,  is  the  credit  given  to  his 
oath.  Though  you  were  to  swear  by  all  the  altars  of  the 
Samothracian  and  our  own  gods,  the  poor  man  is  believed  to 
despise  the  thunder-bolts  and  the  gods,  even  with  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  gods  themselves.  Why  add  that  this  same  poor 
man  furnishes  material  and  grounds  for  ridicule  to  all,  if  his 
cloak  is  dirty  and  torn,  if  his  toga  is  a  little  soiled,  and  one 
shoe  gapes  with  its  upper  leather  burst ;  or  if  more  than  one 
patch  displays  the  coarse  fresh  darning  thread,  where  a  rent 
has  been  sewn  up.  Poverty,  bitter  though  it  be,  has  no 
sharper  pang  than  this,  that  it  makes  men  ridiculous.  Let 

1  Claudit  latus.  This  is  the  order  Britannicus  takes.  "  Claudere 
latus  "  means  not  only  to  accompany,  as  a  mark  of  respect,  but  to 
give  the  inner  place  ;  to  become  his  *' comes  exterior."  Horace  ii., 
Sat.  v.,  18.  So  Gifford,  And  if  they  walk  beside  him  yield  the 
wall." 

2  "  For  one  cold  kiss  a  tribune's  yearly  pay."  Hodgson. 
i.e.,  forty-eight  pieces  of  gold.   Cf.  Suet.,  Vesp.,  xxiii. 

3  P.  Scipio  Nasica  (vid.  Liv.  xxix.,  10)  and  L.  Caecilius  Metellus. 
Cf.  Ov.,  Fasti,  vi.,  437. 

*  Possidet.  Vid.  Niebuhr. 


36 


JUVENAL. 


him  retire,  if  he  has  any  shame  left,  and  quit  the  cushions 
of  the  knights,  that  has  not  the  income  required  by  the  law, 
and  let  these  seats  be  taken  by  " — the  sons  of  pimps,  in  what- 
ever brothel  born  !  Here  let  the  son  of  the  sleek  crier^  ap- 
plaud among  the  spruce  youths  of  the  gladiator,  and  the 
scions  of  the  fencing-school.  Such  is  the  will  of  the  vain 
Otho,  who  made  the  distinction  between  us.^ 

Who  was  ever  allowed  at  Rome  to  become  a  son-in-law  if 
his  estate  was  inferior,  and  not  a  match  for  the  portion  of  the 
young  lady?  What  poor  man's  name  appears  in  any  will? 
When  is  he  summoned  to  a  consultation  even  by  an  aedile  ? 
All  Quirites  that  are  poor,  ought  long  ago  to  have  emigrated 
in  a  body.^  Difficult  indeed  is  it  for  those  to  emerge  from 
obscurity  whose  noble  qualities  are  cramped  by  narrow 
means  at  home  ;  but  at  Rome,  for  men  like  these,  the  at- 
tempt is  still  more  hopeless  ;  it  is  only  at  an  exorbitant  price 
they  can  get  a  wretched  lodging,  keep  for  their  servants, 
and  a  frugal  meal.  ^  A  man  is  ashamed  here  to  dine  off  pot- 
tery ware, ^  which,  were  he  suddenly  transported  to  the  Marsi 
and  a  Sabine  board,  contented  there  with  a  coarse  bowl  of 
blue  earthenware,  he  would  no  longer  deem  discreditable. 
There  is  a  large  portion  of  Italy  (if  we  allow  the  fact),  where 
no  one  puts  on  the  toga,  except  the  dead.'  Even  when  the 
very  majesty  of  festival  days  is  celebrated  in  a  theatre  reared 
of  turf,'  and  the  well-known  farce  at  length  returns  to  the 

1  Cf.  Mart.,  v.,  Ep.  8  and  25,  who  speaks  of  one  Lectins  as  an  offi- 
cious keeper  of  the  seats. 

2  Sat.  X.,  323. 

3  "  Long,  long  ago,  in  one  despairing  band, 

The  poor,  self-exiled,  should  have  left  the  land."  Hodgson. 

-*    "A  menial  board  and  parsimonious  fare."  Hodgson. 

s  Negavit."  Some  commentators  imagine  Curius  Dentatus  to  be 
here  alluded  to.  It  seems  better  to  take  it  as  a  general  remark.  Read 
"  culullo,"  not  "  cucullo,"  with  Browne. 

«  Cf.  Mart.,  ix.,  588. 

7  Herboso,  the  first  permanent  theatre  even  in  Rome  itself,  was  built 


SATIRE  III. 


37 


stage/  when  the  rustic  infant  on  its  mother's  lap  is  terrified 
at  the  wide  mouth  of  the  ghastly  mask,  there  you  will  see  all 
costumes  equal  and  alike,  both  orchestra  and  common  people. 
White  tunics  are  quite  sufficient  as  the  robe  of  distinction 
for  the  highest  personages  there,  even  the  very  sediles.  Here, 
in  Rome,  the  splendor  of  dress  is  carried  beyond  men's 
means  ;  here,  something  more  than  is  enough,  is  taken  occa- 
sionally from  another's  chest.  In  this  fault  all  participate. 
Here  we  all  live  with  a  poverty  that  apes  our  betters.  Why 
should  I  detain  you?  Every  thing  at  Rome  is  coupled 
with  high  price.  What  have  you  to  give,  that  you  may 
occasionally  pay  you^  respects  to  Cossus  ?  that  Veiento  may 
give  you  a  passing  glance,  though  without  deigning  to  open 
his  mouth  ?  One  shaves  the  beard,  another  deposits  the  hair 
of  a  favorite  ;  the  house  is  full  of  venal  cakes.  ^  Now  learn 
this  fact,  and  keep  it  to  work  within  your  breast.  We  clients 
are  forced  to  pay  tribute  and  increase  the  private  income  of 
these  pampered  slaves. 

Who  dreads,  or  ever  did  dread,  the  falling  of  a  house  at 
cool  Prsenesta,  or  at  Volsinii  seated  among  the  well-wooded 
hills,  or  simple  Gabii,^  or  the  heights  of  sloping  Tibur.  We, 
in  Rome,  inhabit  a  city  propped  in  great  measure  on  a  slen- 
der shore.*  For  so  the  steward  props  up  the  falling  walls, ^ 
and  when  he  has  plastered  over  the  old  and  gaping  crack, 
bids  us  sleep  without  sense  of  danger  while  ruin  hangs  over 

bv  Pompey.  Cf.  In  gradibus  sedit  populus  de  caespite  factis.  Or., 
Art.  Am.,  i.,  107.   Cf.  Virg.,  .^n.,  v.,  286. 

1  "  In  the  state  show  repeated  now  for  years."  Hodgson. 

2  Libis.  So  many  of  these  "complimentary  cakes"  are  sent  in 
honor  of  this  event,  that  they  are  actually  "  sold"  to  get  rid  of  them. 

"  Good  client,  quickly  to  the  mansion  send 
Cakes  bought  by  thee  for  rascal  slaves  to  vend."  Badham. 

3  Gabii,  renowned  for  the  ease  with  which  Sex.  Tarquin  duped  the 
inhabitants. 

*  Pronum,  i.e.,  supinum.  Hor.,  iii..  Od.  iv.,  23,  on  a  steep  acclivity. 
&  "  And  'tis  the  village  mason's  daily  calling, 

To  keep  the  world's  metropolis  from  falling."  Dry  den. 


38 


JUVENAL. 


our  heads  !'  I  must  live  in  a  place  where  there  are  no  fires, 
no  nightly  alarms.  Already  is  Ucalegon  shouting  for  water, 
already  is  he  removing  his  chattels  :  the  third  story  in  the 
house  you  live  in  is  already  in  a  blaze.  You  are  uncon- 
scious !  For  if  the  alarm  begin  from  the  bottom  of  the  stairs, 
he  will  be  the  last  to  be  burned  whom  a  single  tile  protects 
from  the  rain,  where  the  tame  pigeons  lay  their  eggs.  Co- 
drus  had  a  bed  too  small  for  his  Procula,  six  little  jugs  the 
ornament  of  his  sideboard,  and  a  little  can  besides  beneath 
it,  and  a  Chiron  reclining  under  the  same  marble  ;  and  a 
chest  now  grown  old  in  the  service  contained  his  Greek 
books,  and  opic^  mice-gnawed  poems  of  divine  inspiration. 
Codrus  possessed  nothing  at  all ;  who  denies  the  fact  ?  and 
yet  all  that  little  nothing  that  he  had,  he  lost.  But  the  cli- 
max that  crowns  his  misery  is  the  fact,  that  though  he  is 
stark  naked  and  begging  for  a  few  scraps,  no  one  will  lend  a 
hand  to  help  him  to  bed  and  board.  But,  if  the  great  man- 
sion of  Asturius  has  fallen,  the  matrons  appear  in  weeds,  ^  the 
senators  in  mourning  robes,  the  praetor  adjourns  the  courts. 
Then  it  is  we  groan  for  the  accidents  of  the  city ;  then  we 
loathe  the  very  name  of  fire.  The  fire  is  still  raging,  and 
already  there  runs  up  to  him  one  who  offers  to  present  him 
with  marble,  and  contribute  toward  the  rebuilding.  Another 
will  present  him  with  naked  statues  of  Parian  marble,* 

1   "  Then  bid  the  tenant  sleep  secure  from  dread, 

While  the  loose  pile  hangs  trembling  o'er  his  head."  Gifford. 

^  Opici.  Cf.  vi.,  455.  Opicse  castigat  amicse  verba ;  i.e.,  barbarous, 
rude,  unlearned,  "the  Goths  of  mice;"  from  the  Opici  or  Osci,  an 
Ausonian  tribe  on  the  Liris,  from  whom  many  barbarous  innovations 
were  introduced  into  Roman  manners  and  language.  "Divina" 
may  either  refer  to  Homer's  poems,  or  to  Codrus'  own.  which  in  his 
own  estimation  were  "  divine."   Cf.  Sat.  i.,  2,  "  rauci  Theseide  Codriy 

^  Horrida.  In  all  public  misfortunes,  the  Roman  matrons  took 
their  part  in  the  common  mourning,  by  appearing  without  orna- 
ments, in  weeds,  and  with  disheveled  hair.  Cf.  viii.,  267,  Li  v.,  ii., 
7.   Luc,  Phars. ,  ii.,  28,  seq. 

^  Candida.  Cf.  Plin.,  xxxiv.,  5.  The  Parian  marble  was  the  whit- 
est, hence  Virg.  ^En.,  iii.,  126,  "  Niveamque  Paron." 


SATIRE  III. 


39 


another  with  a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  Euphranor  or  Polycletus.^ 
Some  lady  will  contribute  some  ancient  ornaments  of  gods 
taken  in  our  Asiatic  victories  ;  another,  books  and  cases^  and 
a  bust  of  Minerva  ;  another,  a  whole  bushel  of  silver.  Per- 
sicus,  the  most  splendid  of  childless  men,  replaces  all  he  has 
lost  by  things  more  numerous  and  more  valuable,  and  might 
with  reason  be  suspected  of  having  himself  set  his  own  house 
on  fire.^ 

If  you  can  tear  yourself  away  from  the  games  in  the  cir- 
cus,* you  can  buy  a  capital  house  at  Sora,  or  Fabrateria,  or 
Frusino,  for  the  price  at  which  you  are  now  hiring  your 
dark  hole  for  one  year.  There  you  will  have  your  little 
garden,  a  well  so  shallow  as  to  require  no  rope  and  bucket, 
whence  with  easy  draught  you  may  water  your  sprouting 
plants.  Live  there,  enamored  of  the  pitchfork,  and  the 
dresser  of  your  trim  garden,^  from  which  you  could  supply 
a  feast  to  a  hundred  Pythagoreans.  It  is  something  to  be 
able  in  any  spot,  in  any  retreat  whatever,  to  have  made 
one's  self  proprietor  even  of  a  single  lizard. 

Here  full  many  a  patient  dies  from  want  of  sleep  ;  but 
that  exhaustion  is  produced  by  the  undigested  food  that 
loads  the  fevered  stomach.  For  what  lodging-houses  allow 
of  sleep?    None  but  the  very  wealthy  can  sleep  at  Rome.® 


1  Polycletus.  Cf.  viii.,  103.  His  master-piece  was  the  Persian  body- 
guard (of.  jElian.,  V.  H.,  xiv.,  8),  called  the  "  Canon."  Vid  Miiller's 
Archseol.  of  Art.  g  120.  Euphranor  the  painter  belonged,  like  Poly- 
cletus, to  the  Sicy'onic  school. 

2  Foruli  or  plutei,  cases  for  holding  MSS.   Cf.  ii.,  7.   Suet.,  Aug., 

^^^^Cf.  Mart.,  iii„  Ep.  52. 

4  Circus.  Cf.  X.,  81,  duas  tantum  res  anxius  optat  Panem  et  Cir- 
censes. 

»  Cf.  Milton.   "  And  add  to  these  retired  leisure, 

That  in  trim  gardens  takes  his  pleasure." 

6  I.e.,  Only  the  very  rich  can  afford  to  buy  '  Insulae,'  in  the  quiet 
part  of  the  city,  where  their  rest  will  not  be  broken  by  the  noise  of 
their  neighbors,  or  the  street." 


40 


JUVENAL. 


Hence  is  the  source  of  the  disease.  The  passing  of  wagons 
in  the  narrow  curves  of  the  streets,  and  the  mutual  revilings 
of  the  team-drivers^  brought  to  a  stand-still,  would  banish 
sleep  even  from  Drusus  and  sea-calves.  ^ 

If  duty  calls  him,^  the  rich  man  will  be  borne  through  the 
yielding  crowd,  and  pass  rapidly  over  their  heads  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  tall  Liburnian,  and,  as  he  goes,  will  read  or 
write,  or  even  sleep  inside  his  litter,*  for  his  sedan  with  win- 
dows closed  entices  sleep.  And  still  he  will  arrive  before  us. 
In  front  of  us,  as  we  hurry  on,  a  tide  of  human  beings  stops 
the  way  ;  the  mass  that  follows  behind  presses  on  our  loins 
in  dense  concourse  ;  one  man  pokes  me  with  his  elbow,  an- 
other with  a  hard  pole  f  one  knocks  a  beam  against  my 
head,  another  a  ten-gallon  cask.  My  legs  are  coated  thick 
with  mud  ;  then,  anon,  I  am  trampled  upon  by  great  heels 
all  round  me,  and  the  hob-nail  of  the  soldier's  caliga  re- 
mains imprinted  on  my  toe. 

Do  you  not  see  with  what  a  smoke  the  sportula  is  fre- 
quented ?  A  hundred  guests  !  and  each  followed  by  his 
portable  kitchen.*  Even  Corbulo'  himself  could  scarcely 
carry  such  a  number  of  huge  vessels,  so  many  things  piled 
upon  his  head,  which,  without  bending  his  neck,  the 
wretched  little  slave  supports,  and  keeps  fanning  his  fire  as 
he  runs  along.  ^ 

1  Mandra;  properly  "a  pen  for  pigs  or  cattle,"  then  **a  team  or 
drove  of  cattle,  mules,"  etc. ;  as  Martial,  v.,  Ep.xxii.,  7,  "  Mulorum 
vincere  mandras."   Here  "  the  drovers  "  themselves  are  meant. 

2  Drimim.  Cf.  Suet.,  Claud.,  v.,  "super  veterem  segnltise  notam." 
Seals  are  proverbially  sluggish.  Cf.  Plin.,  ix.,  13.  Virg.,  Georg., 
iv.,  432. 

3  Officium ;  attendance  on  the  levees  of  the  great. 

4  Cf.  i.,  64  ;  v.,  83  ;  vi.,  477,  351.    Plin.,  Pan.,  24. 

5  I.e.,  of  a  litter.    Cf.  vii..  132. 

6  Ouiina/'  a  double-celled  chafing-dish,  with  a  fire  below,  to  keep 
the  '  dole  '  warm."    The  custom  is  still  retained  in  Italy. 

7  Domitius  Corbulo,  a  man  of  uncommon  strength,  appointed  by 
Nero  to  command  in  Armenia.   Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  xiii.,  8. 

»  "  The  pace  creates  the  draught." 


SATIRE  III. 


41 


Tunics  that  have  been  patched  together  are  torn  asunder 
again.  Presently,  as  the  tug  approaches,  the  long  fir-tree 
quivers,  other  wagons  are  conveying  pine-trees  ;  they  totter 
from  their  height,  and  threaten  ruin  to  the  crowd.  For  if 
that  wain,  that  is  transporting  blocks  of  Ligustican  stone,  is 
upset,  and  pours  its  mountain-load  upon  the  masses  below, 
what  is  there  left  of  their  bodies  ?  Who  can  find  their  limbs 
or  bones?  Every  single  carcass  of  the  mob  is  crushed  to 
minute  atoms  as  impalpable  as  their  souls.  While,  all  this 
while,  the  family  at  home,  in  happy  ignorance  of  their  mas- 
ter's fate,  are  washing  up  the  dishes,  and  blowing  up  the 
fire  with  their  mouths,  and  making  a  clatter  with  the  well- 
oiled  strigils,  and  arranging  the  bathing  towels  with  the  full 
oil-flask.  Such  are  the  various  occupations  of  the  bustling 
slaves.  But  the  master  himself  is  at  this  moment  seated^  on 
the  banks  of  Styx,  and,  being  a  novice,  is  horrified  at  the 
grim  ferry -man,  and  dares  not  hope  for  the  boat  to  cross  the 
murky  stream  ;  nor  has  he,  poor  wretch,  the  obol  in  his 
mouth  to  hand  to  Charon. 

Now  revert  to  other  perils  of  the  night  distinct  from  these. 
What  a  height  it  is  from  the  lofty  roofs,  from  which  a  pot- 
sherd tumbles  on  your  brains.  How  often  cracked  and 
chipped  earthenware  falls  from  the  windows  !  with  what  a 
weight  they  dint  and  damage  the  flint-pavement  where  they 
strike  it  !  You  may  well  be  accounted  remiss  and  improvi- 
dent against  unforeseen  accident,  if  you  go  out  to  supper 
without  having  made  your  will.  It  is  clear  that  there  are 
just  so  many  chances  of  death,  as  there  are  open  windows 
where  the  inmates  are  awake  inside,  as  you  pass  by.  Pray, 
therefore,  and  bear  about  with  you  this  miserable  wish,  that 

1  Sedet;  because,  being  unburied,  he  must  wait  a  hundred  years. 
Cf.  Virg.,  Mii.,  Yi., 313-330. 


42 


JUVENAL. 


they  may  be  contented  with  throwing  down  only  what  the 
broad  basins  have  held.  One  that  is  drunk,  and  quarrel- 
some in  his  cups,  if  he  has  chanced  to  give  no  one  a  beating, 
suffers  the  penalty  by  loss  of  sleep  ;  he  passes  such  a  night 
as  Achilles  bewailing  the  loss  of  his  friend  ;^  lies  now  on  his 
face,  then  again  on  his  back.  Under  other  circumstances, 
he  can  not  sleep.  In  some  persons,  sleep  is  the  result  of 
quarrels  ;  but  though  daring  from  his  years,  and  flushed 
with  unmixed  wine,  he  cautiously  avoids  him  whom  a  scar- 
let cloak,  and  a  very  long  train  of  attendants,  with  plenty 
of  flambeaux  and  a  bronzed  candelabrum,  warns  him  to  steer 
clear  of.  As  for  me,  whose  only  attendant  home'^  is  the  moon, 
or  the  glimmering  light  of  a  rushlight,  whose  wick  I  hus- 
band and  eke  out — he  utterly  despises  me  !  Mark  the  pre- 
lude of  this  wretched  fray,  if  fray  it  can  be  called,  where  he 
does  ail  the  beating,  and  I  am  only  beaten.*  He  stands 
right  in  front  of  you,  and  bids  you  stand  !  Obey  you  must. 
For  what  can  you  do,  when  he  that  gives  the  command  is 
mad  with  drink,  and  at  the  same  time  stronger  than  you. 
'•Where  do  you  come  from?"  he  thunders  out:  ^^With 
whose  vinegar  and  beans  are  you  blown  out  ?  What  cobbler 
has  been  feasting  on  chopped  leek*  or  boiled  sheep's  head 
with  you?  Don't  you  answer?  Speak,  or  be  kicked  !  Say 
where  do  you  hang  out  ?  In  what  Jew's  begging-stand  shall 
I  look  for  you?"  Whether  you  attempt  to  say  a  word  or 
retire  in  silence,  is  all  one  ;  they  beat  you  just  the  same, 
and  then,  in  a  passion,  force  you  to  give  bail  to  answer  for 
the  assault.    This  is  a  poor  man's  liberty  !    When  thrashed 

^  Horn.,  II.,  XXiv.,  12,  "  aWore  5'  ai/re  virrto?  aAAore  5e  nprjvrjq. 

2  Deducere  ;  "  the  technical  word  tor  the  clients'  attendance  on 
their  patrons  ;"  so  "  forum  attingere  ;  in  forum  deduci." 
"  He  only  cudgels,  and  I  only  bear."  Dryden. 
^  Sectile  or  the  inferior  kind  of  leek ;  the  better  sort  being  called 
oapitatum."   Plin.,  xx.,  6.    Cf.  Sat.  xiv.,  133,  sectivi  porri. 


SATIRE  III. 


43 


he  humbly  begs,  and  pummeled  with  fisticuffs,  supplicates, 
to  be  allowed  to  quit  the  spot  with  a  few  teeth  left  in  his  head. 
Nor  is  this  yet  all  that  you  have  to  fear,  for  there  will  not  be 
wanting  one  to  rob  you,  when  all  the  houses  are  shut  up,  and 
all  the  fastenings  of  the  shops  chained,  are  fixed  and  silent. 

Sometimes  too  a  footpad  does  your  business  with  his  knife, 
whenever  the  Pontine  marshes  and  the  Gallinarian  wood  are 
kept  safe  by  an  armed  guard.-  Consequently  they  all  flock 
thence  to  Rome  as  to  a  great  preserve. 

What  forge  or  anvil  is  not  weighed  down  with  chains? 
The  greatest  amount  of  iron  used  is  employed  in  forging 
fetters  ;  so  that  you  may  well  fear  that  enough  may  not  be 
left  for  plowshares,  and  that  mattocks  and  hoes  may  run 
short.  Well  may  you  call  our  great-grandsires^  happy,  and 
the  ages  blest  in  which  they  lived,  which,  under  kings  and 
tribunes  long  ago,  saw  Kome  contented  with  a  single  jail.^ 

To  these  I  could  subjoin  other  reasons  for  leaving  Rome, 
and  more  numerous  than  these  ;  but  my  cattle  summon  me 
to  be  moving,  and  the  sun  is  getting  low.  I  must  go.  For 
long  ago  the  muleteer  gave  me  a  hint  by  shaking  his  whip. 
Farewell  then,  and  forget  me  not !  and  whenever  Rome  shall 
restore  you  to  your  native  Aquinum,  eager  to  refresh  your 
strength,  then  you  may  tear  me  away  too  from  Cumse  to  Hel- 
vine  Ceres,^  and  your  patron  deity  Diana.  Then,  equipped 
with  my  caligse,'^  I  will  visit  your  chilly  regions,  to  help  you 
in  your  satires — unless  they  scorn  my  poor  assistance. 

1  The  order  is  "Pater,  avus,  proavus,  abavus,  atavus,  tritavus." 
He  means,  therefore,  eight  generations  back  at  least. 

2  Ancus  Martins  built  the  prison.  Liv.,i.,33.  The  dungeon  was 
added  by  Servius  Tullius,  and  called  from  him  TuUianum.  The  next 
was  built  by  Ap.  Claudius  the  decemvir. 

2  Ceres  was  worshiped  under  this  epithet  at  Aquinum.  Its  origin 
is  variously  given. 

^  Caligatus  may  mean,  "  with  rustic  boots,"  so  that  you  may  not  be 
reminded  of  Rome  ;  or  "  with  soldier's  boots,"  as  armed  for  our  cam- 
paign against  the  vices  of  the  city. 


44 


JUVENAL. 


SATIRE  IV. 


ARGUMENT. 

In  this  Satire  Juvenal  indulges  his  honest  spleen  against  Crispinus, 
already  noticed,  and  Domitian,  the  constant  object  of  his  scorn  and 
abhorrence.  The  introduction  of  the  tyrant  is  excellent ;  the  mock 
solemnity  with  which  the  anecdote  of  the  Turbotis  introduced,  the 
procession  of  the  affrighted  counselors  to  the  palace,  and  the  ridicu- 
lous debate  which  terminates  in  as  ridiculous  a  decision,  show  a 
masterly  hand.  The  whole  concludes  with  an  indignant  and  high- 
spirited  apostrophe. 

Once  more  behold  Crispinus  !^  and  often  shall  I  have  to 
call  him  on  the  stage.  A  monster !  without  one  virtue  to 
redeem  his  vices — of  feeble  powers,  save  only  in  his  lust.  It 
is  only  a  widow's  charms  this  adulterer  scorns. 

What  matters  it  then  in  what  large  porticoes  he  wearies 
out  his  steeds — through  what  vast  shady  groves  his  rides 
extend^ — how  many  acres  close  to  the  forum,  or  what  palaces 
he  has  bought  ?  No  bad  man  is  ever  happy.  Least  of  all  he 
that  has  added  incest  to  his  adultery,  and  lately  seduced  the 
filleted  priestess,^  that  with  her  life-blood  still  warm  must 
descend  into  the  earth. 

But  now  we  have  to  deal  with  more  venial  acts.  Yet  if 
any  other  man  had  committed  the  same,  he  would  have  come 
under  the  sentence  of  our  imperial  censor.  *  For  what  would 
be  infamous  in  men  of  worth,  a  Titius  or  Seius,  was  becom- 
ing to  Crispinus.  What  can  you  do  when  no  crime  can  be 
so  foul  and  loathsome  as  the  perpetrator  himself?  He  gave 
six  sestertia  for  a  mullet.^   A  thousand  sesterces,  forsooth  ! 

1  Iterum.  Cf.  i.,  27,  "  Pars  Niliacae plebis,  verna  Canopi,  Crispinus." 
2Cf.  vii.,179. 

3  The  vestal  escaped  her  punishment,  through  Crispinus'  interest 
with  Domitian. 
^  Cf.  Sat.  ii.,  29.   Suet.,  Domit..  c.  8.   Plin.,  iv.,  Epist.  xi. 
5  Sex  miUibus,  about  £44  7*  6d.  of  English  money.   The  value  of  the 


SATIRE  IV. 


45 


for  every  pound  of  weight,  as  they  allege,  who  exaggerate 
stories  already  beyond  belief.  I  should  commend  the  act  as 
a  master-stroke  of  policy,  if  by  so  noble  a  present  he  had 
got  himself  named  chief  heir^  in  the  will  of  some  childless 
old  man.  A  better  plea  still  would  be  that  he  had  sent  it  to 
some  mistress  of  rank,  that  rides  in  her  close  chair  with  its 
wide  glasses.  Nothing  of  the  sort !  He  bought  it  for  him- 
self !  We  see  many  things  which  even  Apicius^  (mean  and 
thrifty  compared  with  him)  never  was  guilty  of.  Did  you 
do  this  in  days  of  yore,  Crispinus,  when  girt  about  with  your 
native  papyrus  ?^  What !  pay  this  price  for  fish-scales  ?  Per- 
chance you  might  have  bought  the  fisherman  cheaper  than 
the  fish  !  You  might  have  bought  a  whole  estate  for  the  « 
money  in  some  of  our  provinces.  In  Apulia,  a  still  larger 
one.*  What  kind  of  luxuries,  then,  may  we  suppose  were 
gorged  by  the  emperor  himself,  when  so  many  sestertia,  that 
furnished  forth  but  a  small  portion,  a  mere  side-dish  of  a 
very  ordinary  dinner,  were  devoured  by  this  court  buffoon, 
now  clothed  in  purple.  Chief  of  the  equestrian  order  now 
is  he  who  was  wont  to  hawk  about  the  streets  shads  from  the 
same  borough^  with  himself. 

Begin,  Calliope  !  here  may  we  take  our  seats  !  This  is  no 
poetic  fiction  ;  we  are  dealing  with  facts  !  Relate  it,  Pierian 
maids  !  and  grant  me  grace  for  having  called  you  maids, 

sestertium  was  reduced  after  the  reign  of  Augustus,  A  mullet  even 
of  three  pounds'  weight  was  esteemed  a  great  rarity.  Vid.  Hor.,  Sat.. . 
II.,  ii,,  33,  "  Mullum  laudas  trilibrem." 

1  The  chief  heir  was  named  in  the  second  line  of  the  first  table. 
Cf.  Horace,  ii.,  Sat.  v.,  53.   Suet.,  Cses.,  83  ;  Nero,  17. 

2  Cf.  Sat.,  xi.,  3. 

3  Papyrus.   Garments  were  made  of  papyrus  even  in  Anacreon's 
days.   iv..  Od.  4.    It  is  still  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

Land  would  be  probably  cheap  in  Apulia,  from  its  barrenness, 
and  bad  air,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  wind  Atabulus.  Cf.  Hor.,  i., 
Sat.  v.,  Montes  Apulia  notos  quos  torrent  Atabulus. 

5  I.e.,  Alexandria.  Of  the  various  readings  of  this  line,  "pacta  mer- 
cede"  seems  to  be  the  best.  Even  the  fish  Crispinus  sold  were  not  his 
own,  he  was  only  hired  to  sell  them  for  others. 


46 


JUVENAL. 


When  the  last  of  the  Flavii  was  mangling  the  world,  lying 
at  its  last  gasp,  and  Rome  was  enslaved  by  a  Nero,^  ay,  and 
a  bald  one  too,  an  Adriatic  tiirbot  of  wonderful  size  fell  into 
the  net,  and  filled  its  ample  folds,  off  the  temple  of  Venus 
which  Doric  Ancona^  sustains.  No  less  in  bulk  was  it  than 
those  which  the  ice  of  the  Mjeotis  incloses,  and  when  melted 
at  length  by  the  sun's  rays,  discharges  at  the  outlets  of  the 
sluggish  Euxine,  unwieldy  from  their  long  sloth,  and  fat- 
tened by  the  long-protracted  cold. 

This  prodigy  of  a  fish  the  owner  of  the  boat  and  nets  de- 
signs for  the  chief  pontiff.  For  who  would  dare  to  put  up 
such  a  fish  to  sale,  or  to  buy  it  ?  Since  the  shores  too  would 
be  crowded  with  informers ;  these  inspectors  of  sea-weed, 
prowling  in  every  nook,  would  straightway  contest  the  point* 
with  the  naked  fisherman,  and  would  not  scruple  to  allege 
that  the  fish  was  a  ''stray,"  and  that  having  made  its  escape 
from  the  emperor's  ponds,  where  it  had  long  reveled  in 
plenty ,  ought  of  course  to  revert  to  its  ancient  lord.  If  we 
place  any  faith  in  Palfurius  or  Armillatus,  whatever  is  pre- 
eminently fine  in  the  whole  sea,  is  the  property  of  the  ex- 
chequer, wherever  it  swims.  So,  that  it  may  not  be  utterly 
losj:,  it  will  be  made  a  present  of,  though  now  sickly  autumn 
was  giving  place  to  winter,  and  sick  men  were  already  ex- 
pecting* their  fits  of  ague,  though  the  rude  tempest  whistled 
and  kept  the  fish  fresh,  yet  the  fisherman  hurries  on  as 
though  a  mild  south  wind  were  blowing.  And  when  the  lakes 
were  near  at  hand,  where,  though  in  ruins.  Alba*  still  pre- 

1  Nero,  i.e.,  Domitian,  who  was  as  much  disgusted  at  his  own  bald- 
ness as  Caesar. 

2  Founded  by  a  colony  of  Syracusans,  who  fled  from  the  tyranny 
of  Dionysius. 

3  Agerunt  cum ;  perhaps,  "  be  ready  to  go  to  law  with." 

4  Sperare  sometimes  meaiLs  to  fear.   Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iv.,  419. 

s  Alba  was  Domitian's  favorite  residence.  Vid.  Suet.,  Dom.,  iv., 
19.  Plin.,  iv.,  Ep.  xi.,  "  Non  in  regiam  sed  in  Albanam  villam  con- 
vocavit." 


SATIRE  IV. 


47 


serves  the  Trojan  fire,  and  her  Lesser  Vesta,  ^  the  wondering 
crowd  for  a  short  space  impeded  his  entrance  ;  as  they  made 
way  for  him,  the  folding-doors  flew  open  on  ready-turning 
hinge.  The  senators,  shut  out  themselves,  watch  the  dainty 
admitted.  He  stands  in  the  royal  presence.  Then  he  of 
Picenum  begins,  Deign  to  accept  what  is  too  great  for  any 
private  kitchen  :  let  this  day  be  celebrated  as  the  festival  of 
your  genius,  haste  to  relieve  your  stomach  of  its  burden,  and 
devour  a  turbot  reserved  to  honor  your  reign. ^  It  insisted 
on  being  caught. What  could  be  more  fulsome?  and  yet 
the  great  man's  crest  rose.  What  flattery  is  there  that  it 
is  not  prepared  to  believe,  when  power  is  praised  as  equal 
to  the  gods.  But  there  was  no  dish  of  sufficient  size  for 
the  fish.  Therefore  the  senators  are  summoned  to  a  council 
— men  whom  he  hated  !  men  on  whose  faces  sat  the  pale- 
ness engendered  by  the  wretched  friendship  with  the  great ! 
At  the  loud  summons  of  the  Liburnian  slave,  '^Run!  the 
emperor  is  already  seated  the  first  to  snatch  up  his  cloak 
and  hurry  to  the  place  was  Pegasus,  lately  set  as  bailiff 
over  the  amazed  city  f  for  what  else  were  the  prsefects  of 
Rome  in  those  days  ?  of  whom  he  was  the  best  and  most  con- 
scientious dispenser  of  the  laws,  though  in  those  days  of 
terror  he  thought  all  things  ought  to  be  administered  by 
justice  unarmed.  Crispus*  came  too,  that  facetious  old  man, 
with  high  character  equal  to  his  eloquence  and  mild  dis- 

1  The  "  Lesser  "  Vesta,  compared  with  the  splendor  of  her  "Cultus 
at  Rome,  which  had  been  established  by  Numa.   The  temples  were 
spared  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Alba  by  Tullus  Hostilius. 
Vid,  Liv.,  i. 

2  "  Sseeulum  "  is  repeatedly  used  in  this  sense  by  Pliny,  and  other 
writers  of  this  age. 

3  As  though  Rome  had  now  so  far  lost  her  privileges  and  her  lib- 
erty, as  to  be  no  better  than  a  country  vicus,  to  be  governed  by  a  bai- 
liff. 

Vibius  Crispus  Placentinus,  the  author  of  the  witticism  about 
"  Domitian  and  the  flies."    Vid.  Suet.,  Dom.,  3. 


48 


JUVENAL. 


position.  Who  could  have  been  a  more  serviceable  minister 
to  one  that  ruled  seas,  and  lands,  and  peoples,  if,  under  that 
bane  and  pest  of  mankind,  he  had  been  allowed  to  reprobate 
his  savage  nature  and  give  honest  advice  ?  But  what  is  more 
ticklish  than  a  tyrant's  ear,  with  whom  the  life  even  of  a 
favorite  was  at  stake,  though  he  might  be  talking  of  showers 
or  heat,  or  a  rainy  spring  ?  He,  therefore,  never  attempted 
to  swim  against  the  stream,  nor  was  he  a  citizen  who  dared 
give  vent  to  the  free  sentiments  of  his  soul,  and  devote  his 
life  to  the  cause  of  truth  :  and  so  it  was  that  he  saw  many 
winters  and  eighty  summers  ;  safe,  by  such  weapons,  even 
in  a  court  like  that.  Next  to  him  hurried  Acilius,  a  man  of 
the  same  time  of  life  ;  with  a  youth^  that  ill  deserved  so 
cruel  a  death  as  that  which  awaited  him,  so  prematurely  in- 
flicted by  the  tyrant's  swords  ;  but  nobility  coupled  with  old 
age,  has  long  since  been  a  miracle.  Consequently,  for  my- 
self, I  should  prefer  being  a  younger  brother  of  the  giants.  ^ 
It  was  of  no  avail  therefore  to  the  wretched  man,  that  as  a 
naked  huntsman  in  the  amphitheatre  of  Alba,  he  fought 
hand  to  hand  with  Numidian  bears.  For  who,  in  our  days, 
is  not  up  to  the  artifices  of  the  patricians?  Who  would  now 
admire  that  primitive  cunning  of  thine,  Brutus  ?  It  is  an 
easy  thing  to  impose  on  a  king  that  wears  a  beard  !^  Then 
came  Rubrius  not  a  whit  less  pale,  though  he  was  no  noble, 
one  accused  of  an  ancient  and  nameless  crime,  and  yet  more 
lost  to  shame  than  the  pathic  satirist.*  There  too  is  to  be 
seen  Montanus'  paunch,  unwieldy  from  its  size,  and  Crispus 

.  1  Juvene.  Probably  a  son  of  this  M.  Acilius  Glabrio,  who  was  mur- 
'  dered  by  Domitian  out  of  envy  at  the  applause  he  received  when 

fighting  in  the  arena  at  the  emperor's  own  command. 

2  I.e.,  "  Terrse  filius,"  Pers.,  vi.,  57,  one  of  the  meanest  origin. 
<  3  xt  was  444  years  before  barbers  were  introduced  into  the  city  from 

Sicily. 

Alluding  to  Nero's  satire  on  Quintianus.  Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  xv., 
49.  Quintianus  moUitie  corporis  infamis,  et  a  Nerone  probroso  car- 
mine diffamatus. 


SATIRE  IV. 


49 


reeking  with  unguent  though  so  early  in  the  day,  more  than 
enough  to  furnish  forth  two  funerals ;  and  Pompeius,  still 
more  ruthless  even  than  he  at  cutting  men's  throats  by  his 
insinuating  whisper  ;  and  he  that  kept  his  entrails  only  to 
fatten  the  Dacian  vultures,  Fuscus,  that  studied  the  art  of 
war  in  his  marble  palace  ;  and  the  shrewd  Veiento  with  the 
deadly  Catullus,^  who  raged  with  lust  for  a  girl  he  could  not 
see,  a  monster  and  prodigy  of  guilt  even  in  our  days,  the 
blind  flatterer,  a  common  bridge-beggar^  invested  with  this 
hateful  power,  whose  worthiest  fate  would  be  to  run  begging 
by  the  carriages  on  the  road  to  Aricia,  and  blow  his  fawning 
kisses  to  the  chariot  as  it  descends  the  hill.  No  one  showed 
more  astonishment  at  the  turbot,  for  he  was  profuse  in  his 
wonder,  turning  toward  the  left,  but  unfortunately  the  fish 
lay  on  the  other  side.  This  was  just  the  way  he  used  to 
praise  the  combat  and  fencing  of  the  Cilician  gladiator,  and 
the  stage  machinery,  and  the  boys  caught  up  by  it  to  the 
awning.  Veiento  is  not  to  be  outdone  by  him  ;  but,  like  one 
inspired  by  the  maddening  influence  of  Bellona,  begins  to 
divine.  A  mighty  omen  this  you  have  received  of  some 
great  and  noble  triumph.  Some  captive  king  you'll  take,  or 
Arviragus  will  be  hurled  from  his  British  car.  For  the 
monster  is  a  foreign  one.  Do  you  see  the  sharp  fins  brist- 
ling on  his  back  like  spears?"  In  one  point  only  Fabricius 
was  at  fault,  he  could  not  tell  the  turbot's  country  or  age. 
*'What  then  is  your  opinion?  Is  it  to  be  cut  up?" 
^'Heaven  forefend  so  great  dishonor  to  the  noble  fish  !"  says 
Montanus.  Let  a  deep  dish  be  provided,  whose  thin  sides 
may  inclose  its  huge  circumference.    Some  cunning  Prome- 

1  Catullus  Messalinus.  Vid.  Plin.,  Ep.,  iv.,  22,  Fabricius  Veiento 
wrote  some  satirical  pieces,  for  which  Nero  banished  him ,  and  ordered 
his  books  to  be  burnt.  Vid.  Tac.  Ann.,  xiv.,  50.  He  was  probably 
the  husband  of  Hippia,  mentioned  in  the  6th  Satire,  1.  82. 

2  "  Pons."   Cf.  Sat.  v.,  8  ;  xiv.,  134. 

3 


50 


JUVENAL. 


theus  to  act  on  this  sudden  emergency  is  required.  Quick 
with  the  clay  and  potter's  wheel !  But  henceforth,  Caesar, 
let  potters  always  attend  your  armies  !"  This  opinion, 
"Worthy  of  the  author,  carried  the  day.  He  was  well  versed 
in  the  old  luxury  of  the  imperial  court,  and  Nero's  nights,^ 
and  a  second  appetite  when  the  stomach  was  fired  with  the 
Falernian.^  No  one  in  my  day  was  a  greater  connoisseur  in 
good  eating  ;  he  could  detect  at  the  first  bite  whether  the 
oysters  were  natives  from  Circeii,  or  the  Lucrine  rocks,  or 
whether  they  came  from  the  Rutupian  beds,  and  told  the 
shore  an  Echinus  came  from  at  the  first  glance. 

They  rise  ;  and  the  cabinet  being  dismissed,  the  great 
chief  bids  the  nobles  depart  whom  he  had  dragged  to  the 
Alban  height,  amazed  and  forced  to  hurry,  as  though  he 
were  about  to  announce  some  tidings  of  the  Catti  and  fierce 
Sicambri  ;  as  though  from  diverse  parts  of  the  world  some 
alarming  express  had  arrived  on  hurried  wing.  And  would 
that  he  had  devoted  to  such  trifles  as  these  those  days  of 
horror  and  cruelty,  in  which  he  removed  from  the  city  those 
glorious  and  illustrious  spirits,  with  none  to  punish  or  avenge 
the  deed  !  But  he  perished  as  soon  as  he  began  to  be  an  ob- 
ject of  alarm  to  cobblers.  This  was  what  proved  fatal  to  one 
that  was  reeking  with  the  blood  of  the  Lamiae  ! 


1  Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  27. 


2  Cf.  vi.,  430. 


SATIRE  V. 


51 


SATIRE  V. 


ARGUMENT. 

Under  pretense  of  advising  one  Trebius  to  abstain  from  the  table 
of  Virro,  a  man  of  rank  and  fortune,  Juvenal  takes  occasion  to 
give  a  spirited  detail  of  the  insults  and  mortifications  to  which  the 
poor  were  subjected  by  the  rich,  at  those  entertainments  to  which, 
on  account  of  the  political  connection  subsisting  between  patrons 
and  clients,  it  was  sometimes  thought  necessary  to  invite  them. 

If  you  are  not  yet  ashamed  of  your  course  of  life/  and 
your  feeling  is  still  the  same,  that  you  consider  living  at 
another  man's  table  to  be  the  chief  good  ;  if  you  can  put  up 
with  such  things  as  not  even  Sarmentus  or  Galba,  con- 
temptible as  he  was,  would  have  submitted  to  even  at  the 
unequaP  board  of  Caesar  himself ;  I  should  be  afraid  to  be- 
lieve your  evidence  though  you  were  on  oath.  I  know 
nothing  more  easily  satisfied  than  the  cravings  of  nature. 
Yet  even  suppose  this  little  that  is  needed  to  be  wanting,  is 
there  no  quay  vacant?  is  there  no  where  a  bridge,  and  a 
piece  of  mat,  somewhat  less  than  half,  to  beg  upon  ?  Is  the 
loss  of  a  supper  so  great  a  matter  ?  is  your  craving  so  fierce  ? 
when,  in  faith,  it  were  much  more  reputable^  to  shiver 
there,  and  munch  mouldy  fragments  of  dog-biscuit.  In  the 
first  place,  bear  in  mind,  that  when  invited  to  dinner,  you 
receive  payment  in  full  of  your  long-standing  account  of 
service.  The  sole  result  of  your  friendship  with  the  great 
man  is — a  meal  !  This  your  patron  sets  down  to  your  ac- 
count, and,  rare  though  it  be,  still  takes  it  into  the  calcula- 
tion.   Therefore,  if  after  the  lapse  of  two  months  he  deigns 

1  Propositi.   So  ix.,  20,  flexisse  videris  propositum. 

2  Iniquas.  From  the  marked  difference  in  the  treatment  of  the 
different  guests. 

3  Quum  Pol  sit  honestius.  Rupertis'  conjecture. 


52 


JUVENAL. 


to  send  for  his  long-neglected  client,  only  that  the  third 
place  may  not  be  unoccupied  in  one  couch  of  his  triclinium^ 
— Let  us  sup  together,'^  he  says  ;  the  very  summit  of  your 
wishes  !  What  more  can  you  desire  ?  Trebius  has  that  for 
which  he  ought  to  break  his  rest,  and  hurry  away  with 
latchet  all  untied,  in  his  alarm  lest  the  whole  crowd  at  his 
patron's  levee  shall  have  already  gone  their  round  of  com- 
pliments, when  the  stars  are  fading,  or  at  the  hour  when  the 
chill  wain  of  sluggish  Bootes  wheels  slowly  round.  ^ 

But  what  sort  of  a  supper  is  it  after  all?  Wine,  such  as 
wool  just  shorn  would  not  imbibe.^  You  will  see  the  guests 
become  frantic  as  the  priests  of  Cybele.  Wranglings  are  the 
prelude  of  the  fray  :  but  soon  you  begin  to  hurl  cups  as  well 
in  retaliation  ;  and  wipe  your  wounds  with  your  napkin 
stained  with  blood  ;  as  often  as  a  pitched  battle,  begun  with 
pitchers  of  Saguntine  ware,  rages  between  you  and  the  regi- 
ment of  freedmen.  The  great  man  himself  drinks  wine 
racked  from  the  wood  under  some  consul  with  long  hair,* 
and  sips^  the  juice  of  the  grape  pressed  in  the  Social  war ; 
never  likely,  however,  to  send  even  a  small  glass  to  a  friend, 
though  sick  at  heart.  To-morrow,  he  will  drink  the  pro- 
duce of  the  mountains  of  Alba  or  Setia,*  whose  country  and 
date  age  has  obliterated  by  the  accumulated  mould  on  the 


1  Trebius  is  put  in  the  lowest  place  in  the  triclinium,  the  third  cul- 
citra.or  cushion,  on  the  lowest  (tertia)  bed,  and  only  because  there 
was  no  one  else  to  occupy  it. 

2  "What  is  the  night?  Almost  at  odds  with  morning,  which  is 
which."  Macbeth,  Act  iii.,  4.  Cf.  Anacreon,  iil.,  1 ;  Theocr..  xxiv., 
11.   I.e.,  a  little  after  midnight. 

3  "  Tonsurae  tempus  inter  aequinoctium  vernum  et  solstitium,  quum 
sudare  inceperunt  oves :  a  quo  sudore  recens  lana  tonsa  sucida  ap- 
pellata  est.  Tonsas  recentes  eodem  die  perungunt  vino  et  oleo." 
Varro,  R.  R.,  II.,  xi.,  6. 

4  Cf.  iv..  103. 

5  "  Tenet,"  or  *'  keeps  to  himself/'  or  "  holds  up  to  the  light." 

6  Setine  was  the  favorite  wine  of  Augustus.  Alhan.  Cf,  Hor.,  ii., 
Sat.  viii.,  16. 


SATIRE  V. 


53 


ancient  amphora ;  such  wine  as,  with  chaplets  on  their 
heads,  Thrasea  and  Helvidius  used  to  drink  on  the  birth- 
days of  the  Bruti  and  Cassius.  Virro  himself  holds  capa- 
cious cups  formed  of  the  tears  of  the  Heliades^  and  phialse 
incrusted  with  beryl.  You  are  not  trusted  with  gold  :  or 
even  if  it  is  ever  handed  to  you,  a  servant  is  set  as  a  guard 
over  you  at  the  same  time,  to  count  the  gems  and  watch 
your  sharp  nails.  Forgive  the  precaution  :  the  jasper  so 
much  admired  there  is  indeed  a  noble  one  :  for,  like  many 
others,  Virro  transfers  to  his  cups  the  gems  from  off  his  fin- 
gers, which  the  youth,  preferred  to  the  jealous  Hiarbas,^ 
used  to  set  on  the  front  of  his  scabbard.  You  will  drain  a 
cup  with  four  noses,  that  bears  the  name  of  the  cobbler  of 
Beneventum,^  already  cracked,  and  fit  to  be  exchanged,  as 
broken  glass,  for  brimstone.* 

If  your  patron's  stomach  is  overheated  with  wine  and 
food,  he  calls  for  water  cooled  by  being  boiled  and  then  iced 
in  Scythian  snow.^  Did  I  complain  just  now  that  the  wine 
set  before  you  was  not  the  same  as  Virro' s?  Why,  the  very 
water  you  drink  is  different.  Your  cups  will  be  handed  you 
by  a  running  footman  from  Gsetulia,  or  the  bony  hand  of 
some  Moor,  so  black  that  you  would  rather  not  meet  him  at 
midnight,  while  riding  through  the  tombs  on  the  steep  Latin 

1  Amber  was  fabled  to  be  produced  by  the  tears  of  the  sisters  of 
Phaeton,  the  daughters  of  the  Sun,  shed  for  his  loss,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Eridanus,  where  they  were  metamorphosed  into  poplars  or 
alders. 

2  Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iv.,  261. 

3  Nero,  on  his  way  to  Greece,  fell  in  at  Beneventum  with  one  Va- 
tinius,  "  Sutrinse  tabernae  alumnus,"  whom  he  took  first  as  his  buf- 
foon, and  afterward  as  his  confidant.  Tac.,  Ann.,  xv.,  34.  Cf.  Mar- 
tial, xiv.,  Ep.  96. 

^  Sulphura.  Cf.  Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  43,  Qui  pallentia  sulphurata  fractis 
permutat  vitreis.  Vid.  x.,3,  Quae  sulphurata  nolit  empta  ramento 
Vatiniorum  proxeneta  fractorum.  Compare  the  "  Bellarmines  "  of 
mediaeval  pottery  and  the  Flemish  "  Gray  beards." 

»  Prulnis.  "  Neronis  principis  inventum  est  decoquere  aquam,  vi- 
troque  demissam  in  nives  refrigerare."   Plin.,  xxxi.,  3. 


54 


JUVENAL. 


way.  Before  Virro  himself  stands  the  flower  of  Asia,  pur- 
chased at  a  greater  sum  than  formed  the  whole  revenue  of 
the  warlike  Tullus,  or  Ancus— and,  not  to  detain  you,  the 
whole  fortunes^  of  all  the  kings  of  Eome.  And  so,  when 
you  are  thirsty,  look  behind  you  for  your  black  Ganymede 
that  comes  from  Africa.  A  boy  that  costs  so  many  thousands 
deigns  not  to  mix  wine  for  the  poor.  Nay,  his  very  beauty 
and  bloom  of  youth  justify  his  sneer.  When  does  he  come 
near  you  ?  When  would  he  come,  even  if  you  called  him,  to 
serve  you  with  hot  or  cold  water?  He  scorns,  forsooth,  the 
idea  of  obeying  an  old  client,  and  that  you  should  call  for 
any  thing  from  his  hand  ;  and  that  you  should  recline  at 
table,  while  he  has  to  stand.  Every  great  house  is  propor- 
tionably  full  of  saucy  menials. 

See,  too,  with  what  grumbling  another  of  these  rascals 
hands  you  bread  that  can  scarce  be  broken  ;  the  mouldy 
fragments  of  impenetrable  crust,  which  would  make  your 
jaws  ache,  and  give  you  no  chance  of  a  bite.  But  delicate 
bread,  as  white  as  snow,  made  of  the  finest  flour,  is  reserved 
for  the  great  man.  Mind  you  keep  your  hands  off  !  Main- 
tain the  respect  due  to  the  cutter  of  the  bread  Imagine, 
however,  that  you  have  been  rather  too  forward ;  there 
stands  over  you  one  ready  to  make  you  put  it  down.  *'Be 
so  good,  audacious  guest,  as  to  help  yourself  from  the  bread- 
basket you  have  been  used  to,  and  know  the  color  of  your 
own  particular  bread."  So  then  !^  it  was  for  this,  forsooth, 
that  I  so  often  quitted  my  wife,  and  hurried  up  the  steep 
ascent  of  the  bleak  Esquiline,  when  the  vernal  sky  rattled 
with  the  pelting  of  the  pitiless  hail,  and  my  great  coat 
dripped  whole  showers  of  rain  ! 

1  Frivola;  properly  "  goods  and  chattels."   Cf.  iii.,  198. 

2  Artocopi.  Cf.  Xen.,  An.,  IV.,  iv.,  21.  Some  read  Artoptae. 

3  This  is  the  indignant  exclamation  of  Trebius. 


SATIRE  V. 


55 


See  !  with  how  vast  a  body  the  lobster  which  is  served  to 
your  patron  fills  the  dish,  and  with  what  fine  asparagus  it 
is  garnished  all  round ;  with  what  a  tail  he  seems  to  look 
down  in  scorn  on  the  assembled  guests,  when  he  comes  in 
raised  on  high  by  the  hands  of  the  tall  slave.  But  to  you  is 
served  a  common  crab,  scantily  hedged  in^  with  half  an  egg 
sliced,  a  meal  fit  only  for  the  dead,^  and  in  a  dish  too  small 
to  hold  it.  Virro  himself  drowns  his  fish  in  oil  from  Vena- 
fruni ;  but  the  pale  cabbage  set  before  you,  poor  wretch,  will 
stink  of  the  lamp.  For  in  the  sauce-boats  you  are  allowed, 
there  is  served  oil  such  as  the  canoe  of  the  Micipsae  has  im- 
ported in  its  sharp  prow  ;  for  which  reason  no  one  at  Rome 
would  bathe  in  the  same  bath  with  Bocchor ;  which  makes 
the  blackamoors  safe  even  from  the  attacks  of  serpents. 

Your  patron  will  have  a  barbel  furnished  by  Corsica,  or 
the  rocks  of  Tauromenium,  when  all  our  own  waters  have 
been  ransacked  and  failed  ;  while  gluttony  is  raging,  and  the 
market  is  plying  its  unwearied  nets  in  the  neighboring  seas, 
and  we  do  not  allow  the  Tyrrhene  fish  to  reach  their  full 
growth.  The  provinces,  therefore,  have  to  supply  our 
kitchen  ;  and  thence  we  are  furnished  with  what  Lenas  the 
legacy-hunter  may  buy,  and  Aurelia  sell  again.  ^  Virro  is 
presented  with  a  lamprey  of  the  largest  size  from  the 
Sicilian  whirlpool.  For  while  Auster  keeps  himself  close, 
while  he  seats  himself  and  dries  his  wet  pinions  in  prison, 
the  nets,*  grown  venturesome,  despise  the  dangers  even  of 
the  middle  of  Charybdis.  An  eel  awaits  you — first-cousin 
to  the  long  snake — or  a  coarse  pike^  from  the  Tiber,  spotted 

1  Constrictus,  or,  "  shrunk  from  having  been  so  long  out  of  the  sea." 

2  Coena;  the  Silicernium ;  served  on  the  ninth  day  to  appease  the 
dead.    Cf.  Plaut.,  Pseud.,  III.,  ii.,  7  :  Aul.,  II.,  iv.,  45. 

s  Vendat.   Cf.  iii.,  187.   Aurelia.   See  Plin.,  ii.,  Ep.  20.  i 

4  Lina.  Cf.  Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  142. 

5  The  pike  (Lupus  Tiberinus)  was  esteemed  in  exact  proportion  ta 
the  distance  it  was  caught  from  the  common  sewers  of  Rome.  Hor., 
ii.,Sat.  ii.,  31. 


JUVENAL. 


from  the  winter's  ice,  a  native  of  the  bank-side,  fattened  on 
tlie  filth  of  the  rushing  sewer,  and  used  to  penetrate  the 
drain  even  of  the  middle  of  Suburra. 

' '  I  should  like  to  have  a  word  with  Virro,  if  he  would 
lend  an  attentive  ear.  No  one  now  expects  from  you  such 
presents  as  used  to  be  sent  by  Seneca  to  his  friends  of  humble 
station,  or  the  munificent  gifts  which  the  bountiful  Piso  or 
Cotta  used  to  dispense  ;  for  in  days  of  old  the  glory  of  giving 
was  esteemed  a  higher  honor  than  fasces  or  inscriptions. 
All  we  ask  is  that  you  would  treat  us  at  supper  like  fellow- 
citizens.  Do  this,  and  then,  if  you  please,  be,  as  many  now- 
a-days  are,  luxurious  when  alone,  parsimonious  to  your 
guests." 

Before  Virro  himself  is  the  liver  of  a  huge  goose ;  a  fat 
capon,  as  big  as  a  goose  ;  and  a  wild  boar,  worthy  of  the 
spear  of  the  yellow-haired  Meleager,  smokes.  Then  will  be 
served  up  truffles,  if  it  happen  to  be  spring,  and  the  thun- 
der, devoutly  wished  for  by  the  epicure,  shall  augment  the 
supper.  ''Keep  your  corn,  O  Libya,"  says  Alledius,  ''un- 
yoke your  oxen ;  provided  only  you  send  us  truffles !" 
Meanwhile,  that  no  single  source  of  vexation  may  be  want- 
ing, you  will  see  the  carver^  capering  and  gesticulating  with 
nimble  knife,  till  he  has  gone  through  all  the  directions  of 
his  instructor  in  the  art.  Nor  is  it  in  truth  a  matter  of 
trifling  import  with  what  an  air  a  leveret  or  a  hen  is  carved. 
You  would  be  dragged  by  the  heels,  like  Cacus^  when  con- 
quered by  Hercules,  and  turned  out  of  doors,  if  you  were 
ever  to  attempt  to  open  your  mouth,  as  though  you  had 
three  names. When  does  Virro  pass  the  cup  to  you,  or  take 

1  Structor.    Cf.  xi.,  136. 

2  Cacus.    Virg.,  ^n.,  viii.  264. 

3  Free  Roman  citizens  had  three  names,  prsenomen,  nomen,  and 
cognomen.  Slaves  had  no  prsenomen.  Cf.  Pers.,  Sat.  v.,  76-82.  He 
means  to  imply  that,  by  turning  parasite,  Trebius  had  virtually  for- 
feited the  privileges  of  a  free  Roman. 


SATIRE  V. 


57 


one  that  your  lips  have  contaminated  ?  Which  of  you  would 
be  so  rash,  so  lost  to  all  sense  of  shame,  as  to  say,  ''Drink, 
sir!"  to  your  patron  lord?  There  are  very  many  things 
which  men  with  coats  worn  threadbare  dare  not  say.  If  any 
god,  or  god-like  hero,  kinder  to  you  than  the  fates  have 
been,  were  to  give  you  a  knight's  estate,  what  a  great  man 
would  you,  small  mortal,  become  all  at  once  from  nothing 
at  all  !  What  a  dear  friend  of  Virro's  !  ''Give  this  to  Tre- 
bius  !^  Set  this  before  Trebius  !  My  dear  brother,  will  you 
take  some  of  this  sweet-bread  ?' ' 

0  money  !  it  is  to  thee  he  pays  this  honor  !  it  is  thou  and 
he  are  the  brothers  !  But  if  you  wish  to  be  my  lord,  and 
my  lord's  lord,  let  no  little  JEneas  sport  in  your  hall, 2  or  a 
daughter  more  endearing  than  he.  It  is  the  barrenness  of 
the  wife  that  makes  a  friend  really  agreeable  and  beloved. 
But  even  suppose  your  Mycale  should  be  confined,  though 
she  should  even  present  you  three  boys  at  a  birth,  he  will  be 
the  very  one  to  be  delighted  with  the  twittering  nest ;  will 
order  his  green  stomacher^  to  be  brought,  and  the  filberts,* 
and  the  begged-for  penny,  whenever  the  infant  parasite  shall 
come  to  dine  with  him. 

Before  his  friends  whom  he  holds  so  vile  will  be  set  some 
very  questionable  toadstools — before  the  great  man  himself, 
a  mushroom^— but  such  an  one  as  Claudius  ate,  before  that 
furnished  by  his  wife,  after  which  he  ate  nothing  more. 
Yirro  will  order  to  be  served  to  himself  and  his  brother 

1  Da  Trebio.  Cf.  Suet.,  Dom.,  xi.,  "  partibus  de  coen^  dignatus  est." 
Xen.,  Anab.,  I.,  ix.,  26. 

2  Virg.,  ^n..  iv.,  327. 

3  Viridem  thoraca.  Heinrich  supposes  this  to  be  a  mimic  piece  of 
armor,  to  be  worn  by  children  playing  at  soldiers. 

4  Nuces,  "  walnuts ;"  minimas  nuces,  nuts. 

5  Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  xii.,66,  7,  "  Infusum  cibo  boletorum  venenum it 
was  prepared  by  Locusta.  Cf.  Sat.  i.,  71.  Martial,  Ep..  I.,  xxi.,4, 
"Boletum  qualem  Claudius  edit,  edas."   Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  33. 

3* 


58 


JUVENAL. 


Virros  such  noble  apples,  on  whose  fragrance  alone  you  are 
allowed  to  revel ;  such  as  the  eternal  autumn  of  the  Phsea- 
cians  produced  ;  or  such  as  you  might  fancy  purloined  from 
the  African  sisters.  You  feast  upon  some  shriveled  windfall, 
such  as  is  munched  at  the  ramparts  by  him  that  is  armed 
with  buckler  and  helmet  :  and,  in  dread  of  the  lash,  learns 
to  hurl  his  javelin  from  the  shaggy  goat's^  back. 

You  may  imagine,  perhaps,  that  Virro  does  all  this  from 
stinginess.  No  !  his  very  object  is  to  vex  you.  For  what 
play,  what  mime  is  better  than  disappointed  gluttony  !  All 
this,  therefore,  is  done,  if  you  donH  know  it,  that  you  may 
be  forced  to  give  vent  to  your  bile  by  your  tears,  and  gnash 
long  your  compressed  teeth.  You  fancy  yourself  a  freeman 
— the  great  man's  welcome  guest !  He  looks  upon  you  as 
one  caught  by  the  savor  of  his  kitchen.  Nor  does  he  con- 
jecture amiss.  For  who  is  so  utterly  destitute  as  twice  to 
bear  with  his  insolence,  if  it  has  been  his  good  fortune, 
when  a  boy,  to  wear  the  Tuscan  gold,^  or  even  the  boss,  the 
badge  of  leather,  that  emblem  of  poverty  ? 

The  hope  of  a  good  dinner  deludes  you.  See  !  sure  he'll 
send  us  now  a  half-eaten  hare,  or  a  slice  of  that  wild-boar 
haunch.^  Now  we  shall  get  that  capon,  as  he  has  helped 
himself  !  "  Consequently  you  all  sit  in  silent  expectation, 
with  bread  in  hand,  untouched  and  ready  for  action.  And 
he  that  uses  you  thus  shows  his  wisdom — if  you  can  submit 
to  all  these  things,  then  you  ought  to  bear  them.    Some  day 

^  Probably  alluding  to  a  monkey  exhibited  riding  on  a  goat,  and 
equipped  as  a  soldier,  to  amuse  the  Praetorian  guards  at  their  barrack 
gate;  or,  as  some  think,  the  "  recruit "  himself  is  intended,  and  then 
Capella  is  taken  as  a  proper  name. 

2  The  golden  bulla,  hollow,  and  in  the  shape  of  a  heart,  was  bor- 
rowed from  the  Etruscans,  and  at  first  confined  to  the  children  of  no- 
bles. It  was  afterward  borne,  like  the  "tria  nomina,"  by  all  who 
were  free-born,  till  they  were  fifteen.  The  poorer  citizens  had  it 
made  of  leather,  or  some  cheap  material,   Cf.  xiv.,  5,  haeres  bullatus. 

3  Cf.  Xen.,  Anab.,  I.,  ix.,  26. 


SATIRE  VI. 


59 


or  other,  you  will  present  your  head  with  shaven  crown,  to 
be  beaten  :  nor  hesitate  to  submit  to  the  harsh  lash — well 
worthy  of  such  a  banquet  and  such  a  friend  as  this  ! 


SATIRE  VI. 


ARGUMENT. 

The  whole  of  this  Satire,  not  only  the  longest,  but  the  most  complete 
of  the  author's  works,  is  directed  against  the  female  sex.  It  may 
be  distributed  under  the  following  heads :  Lust  variously  modified, 
imperiousness  of  disposition,  fickleness,  gallantry,  attachment  to 
improper  pursuits,  litigiousness,  drunkenness,  unnatural  passions, 
fondness  for  singers,  dancers,  etc. ;  gossiping,  cruelty,  ill  manners ; 
outrageous  pretensions  to  criticism,  grammar,  and  philosophy; 
superstitious  and  unbounded  credulity  in  diviners  and  fortune- 
tellers; introducing  supposititious  children;  poisoning  their  step- 
sons to  possess  their  fortunes ;  and,  lastly,  murdering  their  hus- 
bands. 


I  BELIEVE  that  while  Saturn  still  was  king,  chastity  lin- 
gered upon  earth,  and  was  long  seen  there  :  when  a  chill 
cavern  furnished  a  scanty  dwelling,  and  inclosed  in  one  com- 
mon shade  the  fire  and  household  gods,  the  cattle,  and  their 
owners.  When  a  wife,  bred  on  the  mountains,  prepared  a 
rustic  bed  with  leaves  and  straw  and  the  skins  of  the  wild 
beasts  their  neighbors  ;  not  like  thee,  Cynthia^ — or  thee 
whose  beaming  eyes  the  death  of  a  sparrow  dimmed  with 
tears — but  bearing  breasts  from  which  her  huge  infants 
might  drink,  not  suck,  and  often  more  uncivilized  even  than 
her  acorn-belching  husband.  Since  men  lived  very  differ- 
ently then,  when  the  world  was  new,  and  the  sky  but  freshly 


^  (7t/n^/?ia  is  Propertius' mistress  ;  the  other  is  Lesbia,  the  mistress 
of  Catullus.   V.  CatuU.,  Carm.  iii.   "  Lugete  O  Veneres,"  etc. 


6o 


JUVENAL. 


created,  who,  born  out  of  the  riven  oak,  or  moulded  out  of 
clay,  had  no  parents. 

Many  traces  of  primaeval  chastity,  perhaps,  or  some  few 
at  least,  may  have  existed,  even  under  Jove ;  but  then  it 
was  before  Jove's  beard  was  grown  ;  before  the  Greeks  were 
yet  ready  to  swear  by  another's  head  ;  when  no  one  feared 
a  thief  for  his  cabbages  or  apples,  but  lived  with  garden  un- 
inclosed.  Then  by  degrees  Astrsea  retired  to  the  realms 
above,  with  chastity  for  her  companion,  and  the  two  sisters 
fled  together. 

To  violate  the  marriage-bed,  and  laugh  to  scorn  the  genius 
that  presides  over  the  nuptial  couch,  is  an  ancient  and  a 
hackneyed  vice,  Postumus.  Every  other  species  of  iniquity 
the  age  of  iron  soon  produced.  The  silver  age  witnessed 
the  first  adulterers. 

And  yet  are  you  preparing  your  marriage  covenant,  and 
the  settlement,^  and  betrothal,  in  our  days,  and  are  already 
under  the  hands  of  the  master  barber,  and  perhaps  have 
already  given  the  pledge  for  her  finger!  Well !  you  used  to  be 
sane,  at  all  events!  You,  Postumus,  going  to  marry!  Say, 
what  Tisiphone,  what  snakes  are  driving  you  mad  ?  Can  you 
submit  to  be  the  slave  of  any  woman,  while  so  many  halters 
are  to  be  had  ?  so  long  as  high  and  dizzy  windows  are  open 
for  you,  and  the  yEmilian  bridge  presents  itself  so  near  at 
hand  ?  Or  if,  out  of  so  many  ways  of  quitting  life,  none 
pleases  you,  do  you  not  think  your  present  plan  better,  of 
having  a  stripling  to  sleep  with  you,  who  lying  there,  reads 
you  no  curtain  lectures,  exacts  no  little  presents  from  you,  * 
and  never  complains  that  you  are  too  sparing  in  your  efforts 
to  please  him  ? 

Conventum,  Three  law  terms.  Conventum,  "  the  first  overture." 
Pactum,  "the  contract."  Sponsalia,  "the  betrothing."  Hence  vir- 
gins were  said  to  be  speratse  ;  pactse  ;  sponsse. 


SATIRE  VI. 


6i 


But  Ursidius  is  delighted  with  the  Julian  law^ — he  thinks 
of  bringing  up  a  darling  heir,  nor  cares  to  lose  the  fine  tur- 
tle-dove and  bearded  mullets,^  and  all  the  baits  for  legacies 
in  the  dainties  of  the  market.  What  will  you  believe  to  be 
impossible,  if  Ursidius  takes  a  wife?  If  he,  of  yore  the  most 
notorious  of  adulterers,  whom  the  chest  of  Latinus  in  peril 
of  his  life  has  so  often  concealed,  is  now  going  to  insert  his 
idiot  head  in  the  nuptial  halter  ;  nay,  and  more  than  this,  is 
looking  out  for  a  wife  possessed  of  the  virtues  of  ancient 
days  !  Haste,  physicians,  bore  through  the  middle  vein  ! 
What  a  nice  man  !  Fall  prostrate  at  the  threshold  of  Tar- 
peian  Jove,  and  sacrifice  to  Juno  a  heifer  with  gilded  horns, 
if  you  have  the  rare  good  fortune  to  find  a  matron  with  un- 
sullied chastity.  So  few  are  there  worthy  to  handle  the 
fillets  of  Ceres  ;  so  few,  whose  kisses  their  own  fathers  might 
not  dread.  Wreathe  chaplets  for  the  door-posts,  stretch 
thick  clusters  of  ivy  over  the  threshold.  Is  one  husband 
enough  for  Iberina  ?  Sooner  will  you  prevail  on  her  to  be 
content  with  one  eye.  Yet  there  is  a  great  talk  of  a  cer- 
tain damsel,  living  at  her  father's  country-house  Let 
her  live  at  Gabii  as  she  lived  in  the  country,  or  even  at 
Fidense,  and  I  grant  what  you  say  of  the  influence  of  the 
paternal  country-seat.  Yet  who  will  dare  assert  that  noth- 
ing has  been  achieved  on  mountains  or  in  caves?  Are 
Jupiter  and  Mars  grown  so  old.  In  all  the  public  walks  can 
a  woman  be  pointed  out  to  you,  that  is  worthy  of  your  wish. 
On  all  their  benches  do  the  public  shows  hold  one  that  you 
could  love  without  misgivings  ;  or  one  you  could  pick  out 
from  the  rest?  While  the  effeminate  Bathyllus  is  acting 
Leda  in  the  ballet,  Tuccia  can  not  contain  herself,  Appula 
whines  as  in  the  feat  of  love,  Thymele  is  all  attention  to  the 

1  Lex  Julia,  against  adultery,  recently  revived  by  Domitian. 
JuMs.   Mullets  being  a  bearded  fish.   Plin.,  ix.,  17. 


62  JUYENAT.. 

quick,  the  gentler,  and  the  slow  ;  and  so  Thymele,  rustic  as 
she  was  before,  becomes  a  proficient  in  the  art.  But  others, 
whenever  the  stage  ornaments,  packed  away,  get  a  respite, 
and  the  courts  alone  are  vocal  (since  the  theatres  are  closed 
and  empty,  and  the  Megalesian  games  come  a  long  time 
'  after  the  plebian),  in  their  melancholy  handle  the  mask  and 
thyrsus  and  drawers  of  Accius.  Urbicus  provokes  a  laugh 
by  his  personification  of  Autonoe  in  the  Atellan  farce, 
^lia,  being  poor,  is  in  love  with  him.  For  others,  the 
fibula  of  the  comic  actor  is  unbuckled  for  a  large  sum. 
Some  women  prevent  Chrysogonus  from  having  voice  to  sing. 
Hispulla  delights  in  a  tragic  actor.  Do  you  expect  then 
that  the  worthy  Quintilianus  will  be  the  object  of  their  love  ? 
You  take  a  wife  by  whom  Echion  the  harper,  or  Glaphyrus,' 
or  Ambrosius  the  choral  flute-player,  will  become  a  father. 
Let  us  erect  long  lines  of  scaffolding  along  the  narrow 
streets.  Let  the  door-posts  and  the  gate  be  decorated  with 
a  huge  bay,  that  beneath  the  canopy  inlaid  with  tortoise- 
shell,^  thy  infant,  Lentulus,  supposed  to  be  sprung  from  a 
noble  sire,  may  be  the  counterpart  of  the  Mirmillo  Euryalus. 

Hippia,  though  wife  to  a  senator,  accompanied  a  gladiator 
to  Pharos  and  the  Nile,  and  the  infamous  walls  of  Lagos. 
Even  Canopus  itself  reprobated  the  immorality  of  the  im- 
perial city.  She,  forgetful  of  her  home,  her  husband,  and 
her  sister,  showed  no  concern  for  her  native  land,  or,  vile 
wretch  as  she  was,  her  weeping  children,  and,  to  amaze  you 
even  more,  quitted  the  shows  and  Paris.  But  though  when 
a  babe  she  had  been  pillowed  in  great  luxury,  in  the  down 

1  Testudineo.  Cf.  xi.,  94.  The  allusion  is  to  the  story  told  by  Pliny, 
vii.,  12,  of  the  consuls  Lentulus  and  Metellus,  who  were  observed  by 
all  present  to  be  wonderfully  like  two  gladiators  then  exhibiting 
before  them.   Cf.  Val.  Max.,  ix.,  14. 

2  Lagi.  Alexandria,  the  royal  city  of  Ptolemy,  son  of  Lag^os,  and 
his  successors. 


SATIRE  VI. 


63 


of  her  father's  mansion,  aad  a  cradle  of  richest  workman- 
ship, she  despised  the  perils  of  the  sea.  Her  good  name 
she  had  long  before  despised — the  loss  of  which,  among  the 
soft  cushions  of  ladies,  is  very  cheaply  held.  Therefore 
with  undaunted  breast  she  faced  the  Tuscan  waves  and  wide- 
resounding  Ionian  Sea,  though  the  sea  was  so  often  to  be 
changed.  If  the  cause  of  the  peril  be  reasonable  and  credit- 
able, then  they  are  alarmed — their  coward  hearts  are  chilled 
with  icy  fear — they  cannot  support  themselves  on  their 
trembling  feet.  They  show  a  dauntless  spirit  in  those 
things  which  they  basely  dare.  If  it  is  their  husband  that 
bids  them,  it  is  a  great  hardship  to  go  on  board  ship.  Then 
the  bilgewater  is  insufferable  !  the  skies  spin  round  them ! 
She  that  follows  her  adulterer,  has  no  qualms.  The  one  is 
sick  all  over  her  husband.  The  other  dines  among  the 
sailors  and  walks  the  quarter-deck,  and  delights  in  hand- 
ling the  hard  ropes.  And  yet  what  was  the  beauty  that  in- 
flamed, what  the  prime  of  life  that  captivated  Hippia? 
What  was  it  she  saw  in  him  to  compensate  her  for  being 
nicknamed  the  fencer's  whore  ?  For  the  darling  Sergius  had 
now  begun  to  shave  his  throat ;  and  badly  wounded  in  the 
arm  to  anticipate  his  discharge.  Besides,  he  had  many 
things  to  disfigure  his  face,  as  for  instance— he  was  galled 
with  his  helmet,  and  had  a  huge  wen  between  his  nostrils, 
and  acrid  rheum  forever  trickling  from  his  eye.  But  then 
he  was  a  gladiator  !  It  is  this  that  makes  them  beautiful  as 
Hyacinthus  !  It  was  this  she  preferred  to  her  children  and, 
her  native  land,  her  sister  and  her  husband.  It  is  the  steel 
they  are  enamored  of.  This  very  same  Sergius,  if  dis- 
charged from  the  arena,  would  begin  to  be  Veiento  in  her 
eyes. 

Do  you  feel  an  interest  in  a  private  house,  in  a  Hippia' s 
acts  ?    Turn  your  eyes  to  the  rivals  of  the  gods  !    Hear  what 


64 


JUVENAL. 


Claudius  had  to  endure.  As  soon  as  his  wife  perceived  he 
was  asleep,  this  imperial  harlot,  that  dared  prefer  a  coarse 
mattress  to  the  royal  bed,  took  her  hood  she  wore  by  nights, 
quitted  the  palace  with  but  a  single  attendant,  but  with  a 
yellow  tire  concealing  her  black  hair ;  entered  the  brothel 
warm  with  the  old  patch-work  quilt,  and  the  cell  vacant  and 
appropriated  to  herself.  Then  took  her  stand  with  naked 
breasts  and  gilded  nipples,  assuming  the  name  of  Lycisca, 
and  displayed  the  person  of  the  mother  of  the  princely  Bri- 
tannicus,  received  all  comers  with  caresses  and  asked  her  com- 
pliment, and  submitted  to  often-repeated  embraces.  Then 
when  the  owner  dismissed  his  denizens,  sadly  she  took  her 
leave,  and  (all  she  could  do)  lingered  to  the  last  before  she 
closed  her  cell ;  and  still  raging  with  unsatisfied  desire,  tired 
with  the  toil  but  yet  unsated,  she  retired  with  sullied  cheeks 
defiled,  and,  foul  from  the  smoke  of  lamps,  bore  back  the 
odor  of  the  stews  to  the  pillow  of  the  emperor. 

Shall  I  speak  of  the  love-philters,  the  incantations,  the 
poison  mingled  with  the  food  and  given  to  the  step-son?  The 
acts  which  they  commit,  to  which  they  are  impelled  by  the 
imperative  suggestions  of  their  sex,^  are  still  more  atrocious ; 
those  they  commit  through  lust  are  the  least  of  their  crimes. 
*'Then,  how  can  it  be  that  even  by  her  husband's  showing 
Cesennia  is  the  best  of  wives  ? ' '  She  brought  him  a  thousand 
sestertia  !  that  is  the  price  at  which  he  calls  her  chaste.  It  is 
not  with  Venus'  quiver  that  he  grows  thin,  or  with  her 
torch  he  burns  ;  it  is  from  that  his  fires  are  fed  f  from  her 
dowry  that  the  arrows  emanate.  She  has  purchased  her 
liberty  :  therefore,  even  in  her  husband's  presence,  she  may 
exchange  signals,  and  answer  her  love-letters.  A  rich  wife^ 
with  a  covetous  husband,  has  all  a  widow's  privileges. 


1  Imperio  Sexus.  Cf.  xv.,  138,  Naturae  imperio. 


SATIRE  VI. 


65 


Why  then  does  Sertorius  burn  with  passion  for  Bibula?" 
If  you  sift  the  truth,  it  is  not  the  wife  he  is  in  love  with, 
but  the  face.  Let  a  wrinkle  or  two  make  their  appearance, 
and  the  shriveled  skin  grow  flaccid,  her  teeth  get  black,  or 
her  eyes  smaller — ''Pack  up  your  baggage,"  the  freedman 
will  say,  ''and  march.  You  are  become  offensive.  You 
blow  yo\ir  nose  too  frequently.  March  !  and  be  quick  about 
it !  Another  is  coming  whose  nose  is  not  so  moist."  Mean- 
while she  is  hot  and  imperious,  and  demands  of  her  husband 
shepherds  and  sheep  from  Canusium,  and  elms^  from  Fa- 
lernum.  What  a  trifle  is  this?  Then  every  boy  she  fan- 
cies, whole  droves  of  slaves,  and  whatever  she  has  not  in 
her  house,  and  her  neighbor  has,  must  be  bought. 

Nay,  in  the  mid-winter  month,  when  now  the  merchant 
Jason  is  shut  up,  and  the  cottage^  white  with  hoar  frost  de- 
tains the  sailors  all  equipped  for  their  voyage,  she  takes  huge 
crystalline  vases,  ^  and  then  again  myrrhine  of  immense  size  ; 
then  an  adamant  whose  history  is  well  known,  and  whose 
value  is  enhanced  by  having  been  on  Berenice's  finger.  This 
in  days  of  yore  a  barbarian  king  gave  his  incestuous  love — 
Agrippa  to  his  own  sister  !  where  bare-foot  kings  observe 
festal  sabbaths,  and  a  long-established  clemency  grants  long 
life  to  pigs. 

' '  Is  there  not  one,  then,  out  of '  such  large  herds  of 

1  Ulmos.  Elms,  to  which  the  vines  were  to  be  "  wedded,"  therefore 
put  for  the  vines  themselves.  Cf,  Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  2,  "  Ulmisque  ad- 
jungere  vites."  Cf.  Sat.  viii.,  78,  Stratus  humi  palmes  viduas  desid- 
erat  ulmos.  Hence  Platanus  Coelebs  evincet  ulmos.  Cf.  Hor.,  Epod., 
i.,  9. 

2  Casa.  There  is  another  fanciful  interpretation  of  this  passage. 
The  casa  Candida  is  said  to  mean  the  "white  booths"  so  erected  as 
to  hide  the  picture  of  the  "  Argonautic  "  expedition,  at  the  time  of 
the  Sigillaria,  a  kind  of  fair  following  the  Saturnalia,  when  gems, 
etc.,  were  exposed  for  sale.    Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  28. 

3  Crystallina  are  most  probably  vessels  of  pure  white  glass,  which 
from  the  ignorance  of  the  use  of  metallic  oxydes  were  very  rare 
among  the  Romans,  though  they  possessed  the  art  of  coloring  glass 
with  many  varieties  of  hue. 


66 


JUVENAL. 


women,  that  seems  to  you  a  worthy  match?"  Let  her  be 
beautiful,  graceful,  rich,  fruitful  ;  marshal  along  her  porti- 
coes her  rows  of  ancestral  statues  ;  let  her  be  more  chaste 
than  any  single  Sabine  that,  with  hair  disheveled,  brought 
the  war  to  a  close  ;  be  a  very  phoenix  upon  earth,  rare  as  a 
black  swan ;  who  could  tolerate  a  wife  in  whom  all  excel- 
lencies are  concentrated  !  I  would  rather,  far  rather,  have 
a  country  maiden  from  Venusia,  than  you,  O  Cornelia, 
mother  of  the  Gracchi,  if  along  with  your  exalted  virtues 
you  bring  as  portion  of  your  dower  a  haughty  and  disdain- 
ful brow,  and  reckon  as  part  of  your  fortune  the  triumphs  of 
jour  house  !  Away,  I  beg,  with  your  Hannibal  and  Syphax 
conquered  in  his  camp,  and  tramp  with  all  your  Carthage  ! 

''Spare,  I  pray  thee,  Paean!  and  thou,  O  goddess,  lay 
down  thine  arrows  !  The  children  are  innocent.  Transfix 
the  mother  herself  !"  So  prays  Amphion.  Yet  Paean  bends 
his  bow.  Therefore  she  had  to  bury  her  herds  of  children, 
together  with  their  sire,  while  Niobe  seems  to  herself  to  be 
more  noble  than  Latona's  race,  and  moreover  more  fruitful 
even  than  the  white  sow.  What  dignity  of  deportment, 
what  beauty,  can  compensate  for  your  wife's  always  throw- 
ing her  own  worth  in  your  teeth  ?  For  all  the  satisfaction 
of  this  rare  and  chief  good  is  destroyed,  if,  entirely  spoilt 
by  haughtiness  of  soul,  it  entails  more  bitter  than  sweet. 
But  who  is  so  devotedly  uxorious,  as  not  to  feel  a  dread  of 
her  whom  he  praises  to  the  skies,  and  hate  her  seven  hours 
out  of  every  twelve  ?  There  are  some  things,  trifling  in- 
deed, and  yet  such  as  no  husband  can  tolerate.  For  what 
can  be  more  sickening  than  the  fact  that  no  one  woman  con- 
siders herself  beautiful,  unless  instead  of  Tuscan  she  has 
become  a  little  Greek — metamorphosed  from  a  maid  of 
Sulmo  to  a  ''maid  of  Athens."  Every  thing  is  in  Greek. 
(While  surely  it  is  more  disgraceful  for  our  countrywomen 


SATIRE  VI. 


67 


not  to  know  their  mother  tongue.)  In  this  language  they 
give  vent  to  their  fears,  their  anger,  their  joys  and  cares, 
and  all  the  inmost  workings  of  their  soul.  Nay  more,  they 
kiss  a  la  Grecque  !  This  in  young  girls  you  may  excuse. 
But  must  thou,  forsooth,  speak  Greek,  that  hast  had  the 
wear  and  tear  of  six  and  eighty  years  ?  In  an  old  woman 
this  language  becomes  immodest,  when  interspersed  with 
the  wanton  Zwr?  Kal  xpvxf\.  You  are  employing  in  public,  ex- 
pressions one  might  think  you  had  just  used  under  the 
counterpane.  For  whose  passion  would  not  be  excited  by 
these  enticing  and  wanton  words  ?  It  has  all  the  force  of 
actual  touching.  Yet  though  you  pronounce  them  all  in 
more  insinuating  tones  than  even  Haemus  or  Carpophorus, 
your  face,  the  tell-tale  of  your  years,  makes  all  the  feathers 
droop. 

If  you  are  not  likely  to  love  her  that  is  contracted  and 
united  to  you  in  lawful  wedlock,  there  seems  no  single  reason 
why  you  should  marry,  nor  why  you  should  waste  the  wed- 
ding dinner  and  bride  cakes^  which  you  must  dispense,  when 
their  complimentary  attendance  is  over,  to  your  bridal  guests 
already  well  crammed  ;  nor  the  present  given  for  the  first 
nuptial  night,  when,  in  the  well-stored  dish,  Dacicus^  and 
Germanicus  glitters  with  its  golden  legend.  If  you  are  pos- 
sessed of  such  simplicity  of  character  as  to  be  enamored  of 
your  wife,  and  your  whole  soul  is  devoted  to  her  alone,  then 
bow  your  head  with  neck  prepared  to  bear  the  yoke.  You 
will  find  none  that  will  spare  a  man  that  loves  her.  Though 
she  be  enamored  herself,  she  delights  in  tormenting  and 

1  Mustacea  (the  Greek  a-r^aafxri.  Arist.,  Pax.,  869),  a  mixture  of  meal 
and  anise,  moistened  with  new  wine. 

2  Dacicus,  i.e.,  gold  coins  of  Domitian— the  first  from  his  Dacian, 
the  second  from  his  German  wars.  It  was  customary  to  present  a 
plate  full  of  these  to  the  bride  on  the  wedding  night.  *  Domitian  as- 
sumed the  title  of  Germanicus  a.d.  84,  and  of  Dacicus,  a.d.  91. 


68 


JUVENAL. 


fleecing  her  lover.  Consequently  a  wife  is  far  more  disastrous 
to  him  that  is  likely  to  prove  a  kind  and  eligible  husband. 
You  will  never  be  allowed  to  make  a  present  without  your 
wife's  consent.  If  she  opposes  it,  you  must  not  sell  a  single 
thing,  or  buy  one,  against  her  will.  She  will  give  away  your 
affections.  That  good  old  friend  of  many  long  years  will  be 
shut  out  from  that  gate  that  saw  his  first  sprouting  beard.  ^ 
While  pimps  and  trainers  have  free  liberty  to  make  their 
own  wills,  and  even  gladiators  enjoy  the  same  amount  of 
privilege,  you  will  have  your  will  dictated  to  you,  and  find 
more  than  one  rival  named  as  your  heirs. 

^'Crucify  that  slave."  What  is  the  charge,  to  call  for 
such  a  punishment  ?  What  witness  can  you  produce  ?  Who 
gave  the  information  ?  Listen  !  Where  man's  life  is  at 
stake  no  deliberation  can  be  too  long."  Idiot !  so  a  slave 
is  a  man  then  !  Granted  he  has  done  nothing.  I  will  it,  I 
insist  on  it  !    Let  my  will  stand  instead  of  reason  ! ' ' 

Therefore  she  lords  it  over  her  husband  : — but  soon  she 
quits  these  realms,  and  seeks  new  empires  and  wears  out  her 
bridal  veil.  Then  she  flies  back,  and  seeks  again  the  traces 
of  the  bed  she  scorned.^  She  leaves  the  doors  so  recently 
adorned,  the  tapestry  still  hanging  on  the  house,  and  the 
branches  still  green  upon  the  threshold.  Thus  the  number 
grows :  thus  she  has  her  eight^  husbands  in  five  years.  A 
notable  fact  to*  record  upon  her  tomb  ! 

All  chance  of  domestic  happiness  is  hopeless  while  your 
wife's  mother  is  alive.  She  bids  her  exult  in  despoiling  her 
husband  to  the  utmost.  She  teaches  her  how  to  write  back 
nothing  savoring  of  discourtesy  or  inexperience  to  the  mis- 

1  "  She  tells  thee  where  to  love  and  where  to  hate, 

Shuts  out  the  ancient  friend,  whose  beard  thy  gate 
Knew  from  its  downy  to  its  hoary  state."  Giflford. 

2  Cf.  i^^SCh.,  Ag.,  411,  lu)  Ae'^os  Koi  (TTtjSot  </)iAavopes. 

3  Ocio.   Eight  divorces  were  allowed  by  law. 


SATIRE  VI. 


69 


sives  of  the  seducer.  She  either  balks  or  bribes  your  spies  ; 
then,  though  your  daughter  is  in  rude  health,  calls  in  Archi- 
genes,  and  tosses  off  the  bedclothes  as  too  oppressive.  Mean- 
while the  adulterer,  concealed  apart,  stands  trembling  with 
impatient  expectation.  Do  you  expect,  forsooth,  that  the 
mother  will  inculcate  virtuous  principles,  or  other  than  she 
cherishes  herself?  It  is  right  profitable  too  for  a  depraved 
old  hag  to  train  her  daughter  to  the  same  depravity. 

There  is  scarcely  a  single  cause  in  which  a  woman  is  not 
engaged  in  some  way  in  fomenting  the  suit.  If  Manilla  is 
not  defendant,  she  will  be  plaintiff.  They  draw  up  and 
frame  bills  of  indictment  unassisted,  ^  quite  prepared  to  dic- 
tate even  to  Celsus^  the  exordium  and  topics  he  should  use. 

The  Tyrian  Endromides^  and  the  Ceroma  for  women  who 
is  ignorant  of  ?  Or  who  has  not  seen  the  wounds  of  the 
Plastron,  *  which  she  dints  with  unwearied  foil,  and  attacks 
with  her  shield,  and  goes  with  precision  through  her  exer- 
cise ?  A  matron  most  pre-eminently  worthy  of  the  trumpet 
of  the  Floralia.  Unless  indeed  in  that  breast  of  hers  she  is 
plotting  something  deeper,  and  training  in  real  earnest  for 
the  amphitheatre.^  What  modesty  can  a  woman  show  that 
wears  a  helmet,  and  eschews  her  sex,  and  delights  in  feats 
of  strength  ?    And  yet,  in  spite  of  all,  this  virago  would  not 

1  "  They  meet  in  private  and  prepare  the  bill, 

Draw  up  the  instructions  with  a  lawyer's  skill."  Gifford. 
"  And  teach  the  toothless  lawyer  how  to  bite."  Dryden. 

2  Celsus.  There  were  two  famous  lawyers  of  this  name  ;  A.  Corne- 
lius Celsus,  the  well-known  physician  in  Tiberius'  reign,  who  wrote 
seven  books  of  Institutes,  and  P.  Juventius  Celsus,  who  lived  under 
Trajan  and  Hadrian,  and  wrote  Digests  and  Commentaries. 

3  Endromis.  Cf.  iii.,  103.  "A  thick  shaggy  coat,"  to  prevent  cold 
after  the  violent  exertions  in  the  arena.  Ceroma.  Cf.  iii.,  68.  The 
gladiator's  ointment,  made  of  oil,  wax,  and  clay.  "Nec  injecto  cero- 
mate  brachia  tendis."    Mart.,  vii.,  Ep.  xxxii.,  9. 

^  Palus ;  a  wooden  post  or  figure  on  which  young  recruits  used  to 
practice  their  sword  exercise,  armed  with  shields  alid  wooden  swords 
double  the  regulation  weight. 

5  Veras.   Cf.  ad  i.,  22, 


70 


JUVENAL. 


wish  to  become  a  man.  For  how  small  is  our  pleasure  com- 
pared to  theirs  !  Yet  what  a  goodly  array  would  there  be, 
if  there  were  an  auction  of  your  wife's  goods  :  belt  and 
gauntlets^  and  crest,  and  the  half -armor  for  the  left  leg ! 
Or  if  she  shall  engage  in  a  different  way  of  fighting,^  you 
will  be  lucky  indeed  when  your  young  wife  sells  her  greaves. 
Yet  these  very  same  women  perspire  even  in  their  muslin  ; 
whose  delicate  frames  even  a  slip  of  sarcenet  oppresses. 
See  !  with  what  a  noise  she  makes  the  home-thrusts  taught 
her  by  the  trainer,  and  what  a  weight  of  helmet  bows  her 
down,  how  firmly  she  plants  herself  on  her  haunches,  in 
what  a  thick  mass  is  the  roll  of  clothes.  Then  smile  when, 
laying  aside  her  arms,  she  takes  her  oblong  vessel.  Tell 
me,  ye  granddaughters  of  Lepidus  or  blind  Metellus,  or  Fa- 
bius  Gurges,  what  actress  ever  wore  a  dress  like  this  ?  When 
would  Asylus'  wife  cry  Hah  !  at  the  Plastron  ? 

The  bed  in  which  a  wife  lies  is  the  constant  scene  of  quar- 
rels and  mutual  recriminations.  There  is  little  chance  of 
sleep  there.  Then  is  she  indeed  bitter  toward  her  husband, 
fiercer  than  tigress  robbed  of  her  whelps ;  when,  conscious 
of  her  secret  guilt,  she  counterfeits  groans,  or  hates  the  ser- 
vants, or  upbraids  you  with  some  rival  of  her  own  creation, 
with  tears  ever  fruitful,  ever  ready  at  their  post,  and  only 
waiting  her  command  in  what  way  to  flow.  You  believe  it 
genuine  love.  You,  poor  hedge-sparrow,  plume  yourself, 
and  kiss  off  the  tears  !  Ah  !  what  amorous  lays,  what  let- 
ters would  you  read,  if  you  were  but  to  examine  the  writing- 
case  of  that  adulteress  that  counterfeits  jealousy  so  well ! 

But  suppose  her  actually  caught  in  the  arms  of  a  slave  or 
knight.       Pray  suggest  in  this  case  some  colorable  excuse, 

^  Manicx.  If  the  proper  reading  is  not  "  iwm'ca? "  (as  tunicati  fus- 
cina  Gracchi,  ii.,  117.  Cedamus  tunicse,  viii.,  207),  the  manicae  are 
probably  "  the  sleeves  of  the  tunic."   Cf.  Liv.,  ix.,  40. 

*^  Biversa.    I.e.,  as  a  Retiarius  instead  of  a  Mirmillo. 


SATIRE  VI. 


71 


Quintilian !"  ''We  are  at  fault!  Let  the  lady  herself 
speak!"  ''It  was  formerly  agreed,"  she  says,  "that  you 
should  do  what  you  pleased,  and  that  I  also  might  have  full 
power  to  gratify  myself.  In  spite  of  your  outcry  and  con- 
founding heaven  and  sea,  I  am  mortal."  Nothing  is  more 
audacious  than  these  women  when  detected.  They  affect 
resentment,  and  borrow  courage  from  their  very  guilt  it- 
self. 

Yet  should  you  ask  whence  are  these  unnatural  prodigies, 
or  from  what  source  they  spring  ;  it  was  their  humble  for- 
tune that  made  the  Latin  women  chaste  in  days  of  yore,  nor 
did  hard  toil  and  short  nights'  rest,  and  hands  galled  and 
hardened^  with  the  Tuscan  fleece,  and  Hannibal  close  to  the 
city,  and  their  husbands  mounting  guard  at  the  Colline 
tower,  suffer  their  lowly  roofs  to  be  contaminated  by  vice. 
Now  we  are  suffering  all  the  evils  of  long-continued  peace. 
Luxury,  more  ruthless  than  war,  broods  over  Rome,  and 
exacts  vengeance  for  a  conquered  world.  No  guilt  or  deed 
of  lust  is  wanting,  since  Roman  poverty  has  disappeared. 
This  was  the  source  whence  Sybaris  flowed  to  these  seven 
hills,  and  Rhodes  too,  and  Miletus,  and  Tarentum  crowned 
with  garlands,  insolent  and  flushed  with  wine  ? 

Money,  the  nurse  of  debauchery,  was  the  first  that  intro- 
duced foreign  manners,  and  enervating  riches  sapped  the 
sinews  of  the  age  with  foul  luxury.  For  what  cares  Venus 
in  her  cups  ?  All  difference  of  head  or  tail  is  alike  to  her 
who  at  very  midnight  devours  huge  oysters,  when  unguents 
mixed  with  neat  Falernian  foam,  when  she  drains  the  conch, ^ 
when  from  her  dizziness  the  roof  seems  to  reel,  and  the  table 

1  Durx.  "  Pallade  placata  lanam  mollite  puellse !"  The  process  of 
softening  the  wool  hardened  the  hands.   Ov.,  Fast.,  iii.,  817. 

2  Concha,  a  large  drinking-cup,  shaped  like  a  shell ;  or,  not  improb- 
ably, some  large  shell  mounted  in  gold  for  a  cup,  like  the  Nautilus  of 
Middle  Ages. 


72 


JUVENAL. 


to  rise  up  with  the  lights  doubled  in  number.^  Go  then,  and 
knowing  all  this,  doubt,  if  you  can,  with  what  a  snort  of 
scorn  Tullia  snuffs  up  the  air  when  she  passes  the  ancient 
altar  of  Chastity ;  or  what  Collatia  says  to  her  accomplice 
Maura.  Here  they  set  down  their  litters  at  night,  and  be- 
dew the  very  image  of  the  goddess  with  copious  irrigations, 
while  the  chaste  moon  witnesses  their  abominations,^  over 
which,  when  morn  returns,  you  pass  on  your  way  to  visit 
your  great  friends. 

The  secrets  of  Bona  Dea  are  well  known.  When  the  pipe 
excites  them,  and  inflamed  alike  with  the  horn  and  wine, 
these  Maenads  of  Priapus  rush  wildly  round,  and  whirl  their 
locks  and  howl !  Then,  as  their  passions  rise,  how  burning 
is  their  lust,  how  frantic  their  words,  when  all  power  of  re- 
straining their  desires  is  lost !  A  prize  is  proposed,  and 
Saufeia^  challenges  the  vilest  of  her  sex,  and  bears  off  the 
prize.  In  these  games  nothing  is  counterfeit,  all  is  acted  to 
the  life  ;  so  that  even  the  aged  Priam,  effete  from  years,  or 
Nestor  himself,  might  be  inflamed  at  the  sight.  Then  their 
lust  admits  of  no  delay.  Then  the  woman  appears  in  all  her 
native  depravity ;  and  by  all  alike  is  the  shout  re-echoed 
from  the  whole  den — Now  is  the  proper  time.  Let  in  the 
men  !"  But  the  adulterer  still  sleeps  ;  so  she  bids  the  youth 
put  on  a  female  hood,  and  speed  to  the  spot.  If  none  can 
be  found,  they  have  recourse  to  slaves.  If  there  is  no  hope 
of  slaves,  they  will  hire  some  water-carrier  to  come.  If  this 
fails  too,  and  no  men  can  be  found,  she  would  not  hesitate 
to  descend  still  lower  in  the  scale  of  creation.    Oh,  would 

1  Compare  the  well-known  epigram  on  Pitt  and  Henry  Dundas : 

"  I  can't  see  the  Speaker,  Hal,  can  you?" 
Not  see  the  Speaker?  I  see  two  !" 

2  Cf.  Bhaksp.,  Othello,  Act  iii.,  sc.  iii.  "In  Venice  they  do  let 
heaven  see  the  pranks  they  dare  not  show  their  husbands !" 

3  Cf.  ix.,  117. 


SATIRE  VI. 


73 


that  our  ancient  rites  and  public  worship  could  at  least  be 
celebrated,  uncontaminated  by  such  pollutions  as  these  ! 
But  even  the  Moors  and  Indians  know  what  singing  wench 
produced  his  wares  equal  in  bulk  to  Caesar's  two  Anticatos, 
in  a  place  whence  even  a  mouse,  conscious  of  his  sex,  would 
flee,  and  every  picture  is  veiled  over  that  represents  the 
other  sex.  Yet,  even  in  those  days,  what  man  despised  the 
deity?  or  who  had  dared  to  ridicule  Numa's  earthen  bowl 
and  black  dish,  and  the  brittle  vessels  from  Mount  Vatican  ? 
But  now  what  altars  are  there  that  a  Clodius  does  not  assail  ? 

I  hear  the  advice  that  my  good  friends  of  ancient  days 
would  give — Put  on  a  lock!  keep  her  in  confinement 
But  who  is  to  guard  the  guards  themselves?  Your  wife  is 
as  cunning  as  you,  and  begins  with  them.  And,  in  our  days, 
the  highest  and  the  lowest  are  fired  with  the  same  lust.  Nor 
is  she  that  wears  out  the  black  pavement  with  her  feet,  better 
than  she  who  is  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  her  tall  Syrian 
slaves. 

Ogulnia,  in  order  that  she  may  go  in  due  state  to  the 
games,  hires  a  dress,  and  attendants,  and  a  sedan,  and  pil- 
low, and  female  friends,  and  a  nurse,  and  yellow-haired 
girP  to  whom  she  may  issue  her  commands.  Yet  all  that 
remains  of  her  family  plate,  and  even  the  very  last  rem- 
nants of  it,^  she  gives  to  well-oiled  Athletes.  Many  women 
are  in  straitened  circumstances  at  home  ;  yet  none  of  them 

1  Arnicas.  Lubinus  explains  it,  *'  Quas  tanquam  dives  habeat  loco 
clientarum."  In  Greece  and  Italy  blonde  hair  was  as  much  prized 
as  dark  hair  was  among  northern  nations.  Hence  Helen,  Achilles, 
Menelaus,  Meleager,  etc.,  are  all  ^av0ol.  The  ladies,  therefore,  prided 
themselves  as  much  as  the  men  on  the  personal  beauty  of  their  at- 
tendants. Cf.  v.,  56,  "  Flos  Asiae  ante  ipsum,"  etc.  The  nutrix  is  the 
intriguing  confidante  who  manages  the  amours.  The  jiava  puellay 
the  messenger. 

"  A  trim  girl  with  golden  hair  to  slip  her  billets."  Gifford, 

2  Novissima.   Cf.  xi.,  42,  *'  Post  cuncta  novissimus  exit  annulus." 
"  She  who  before  had  mortgaged  her  estate, 

A.nd  pawn'd  the  last  remaining  piece  of  plate."  Dryden. 

4 


74 


JUVENAL. 


has  the  modest  self-restraint  that  should  accompany  poverty, 
or  limits  herself  within  that  measure  which  her  poverty  has 
allotted  and  assigned  to  her.  Yet  men  do  sometimes  look 
forward  to  what  may  be  to  their  interest  hereafter,  and,  with 
;he  ant  for  their  instructress,  some  have  at  last  felt  a  dread 
of  cold  and  hunger.  Yet  woman,  in  her  prodigality,  per- 
ceives not  that  her  fortune  is  fast  coming  to  naught ;  and  as 
though  money,  with  vegetative  power,  would  bloom  afresh^ 
from  the  drained  chest,  and  the  heap  from  which  she  takes 
would  be  ever  full,  she  never  reflects  how  great  a  sum  her 
pleasures  cost  her.  Some  women  ever  take  delight  in  un- 
w^arlike  eunuchs,  and  soft  kisses,  and  the  loss  of  all  hope  of 
beard,  that  precludes  the  necessity  of  abortives.  Yet  the 
summit  of  their  pleasure  is  when  this  operation  has  been 
performed  in  the  heat  and  prime  of  manhood,  and  the  only 
loss  sustained  is  that  the  surgeon  Heliodorus  cheats  the 
barber  of  his  fees.  Such  is  his  mistress'  will :  and,  con- 
spicuous from  afar,  and  attracting  the  eyes  of  all,  he  enters 
the  baths,  and  vies  even  with  the  god  that  guards  our  vines 
and  gardens.  Let  him  sleep  with  his  mistress  !  But,  Pos- 
tumus,  suffer  not  the  youthful  Bromius  to  enter  the  lists 
with  him. 

If  she  takes  delight  in  singing,  the  fibula  of  none  of  these 
fellows  that  sells  his  voice  to  the  praetor  holds  out :  the  in- 
struments are  forever  in  her  hands  ;  the  whole  lyre  sparkles 
with  the  jewels  thickly  set.  She  runs  over  the  strings  with 
the  vibrating  quill,  ^  with  which  the  soft  Hedymeles  per- 

^  Pullulet     "  As  if  the  source  of  this  exhausted  store 

Would  reproduce  its  everlasting  ore. ' '    Hodgson . 
2  Crispo,  actively,  "  Crispante  chordas."   The  pecten  was  made  of 
ivory.    Vid.  Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  646,  seq.. 

"  Obloquitur  numeris  septem  discrimina  vocum, 

J  am  que  eadem  digitis  jam  pectine  pulsat  eburno.^' 
"  Decks  it  with  gems,  and  plays  the  lessons  o'er, 
Her  loved  Hedymeles  has  play'd  before."  Hodgson. 


SATIRE  VI. 


75 


formed  :  this  she  holds  in  her  hands  ;  with  this  she  consoles 
herself,  and  lavishes  kisses  on  the  plectrum,  dear  for  its 
owner's  sake.  One  of  the  clan  of  the  Lamise,^  a  lady  erf 
lofty  rank,  inquired  with  meal-cake  and  wine  of  Janus  and 
Vesta,  whether  Pollio  might  venture  to  hope  for  the  oaken 
crown  at  the  Capitoline  games, ^  and  promise  it  to  his  lyre. 
What  more  could  she  do  were  her  husband  sick?  What, 
if  the  physicians  had  despaired  of  her  infant  son  ?  She 
stood  before  the  altar,  and  thought  no  shame  to  veil  her 
head  for  a  harper  :  and  went  through  in  due  form  the  words 
prescribed/^  and  grew  pale  as  the  lamb  was  opened.  Tell 
me  now,  I  pray,  tell  me,  thou  ancientest  of  gods,  father 
Janus!  dost  thou  return  answer  to  these?  Great  must  be 
indeed  the  leisure*  of  heaven  !  There  can  be  no  business 
there,  as  far  as  I  see,  stirring  among  you.  One  woman  con- 
sults you  about  comic  actors  ;  another  would  fain  commend 
a  tragedian  to  your  notice  :  the  soothsayer  will  become  vari- 
cose.^ 

But  let  her  rather  be  musical  than  fly  through  the  whole 
city,  with  bold  bearing  ;  and  encounter  the  assemblies  of 
men,  and  in  her  husband's  presence  herself  converse  with 
generals  in  their  scarlet  cloaks,^  with  unabashed  face  and 
breasts  exposed.  She  too  knows  all  that  is  going  on  in  the 
whole  world — what  the  Seres"^  or  Thracians  are  engaged  in — 

1  Lamiarum.    Cf.  iv.,  154. 

2  Capitolinum.  This  festival  was  instituted  by  Domitian  (Suet.,  Do- 
mit.,  4),  and  was  celebrated  every  fifth  year  in  honor  of  Jove. 

3  Dictata.  The  repeating  the  exact  formula  of  words  (carmen)  after 
the  officiating  priest  was  a  most  important  part  of  the  sacrifice. 

4  Otia.    "  Is  your  attention  to  such  suppliants  given? 

If  so,  there  is  not  much  to  do  in  heaven."  Gifford. 

5  Varicosus.  His  legs  will  swell  (like  Cicero's  and  Marius's)  from 
standing  so  long  praying. 

"The  poor  Aruspex  that  stands  there  to  tell 
All  woman  asks,  must  find  his  ankles  swell."  Badham. 

6  Paludatis.   Cf.  Cic,  Sext.,  33. 

^  Seres.   What  country  these  inhabited  is  uncertain,  probably  Bo* 


76 


JUVENAL. 


the  secrets  of  the  step-mother  and  her  son — what  adulterer 
is  in  love,  or  in  great  request.  She  will  tell  you  who  made 
the  widow  pregnant — in  what  month  it  was — in  what  lan- 
guage and  manner  each  act  of  love  takes  place.  She  is  the 
first^  to  see  the  comet  that  menaces  the  Armenian  and  Par- 
thian king  ;  and  she  intercepts^  at  the  gates  the  reports  and 
freshest  news.  Some  she  invents  as  well.  That  Niphates^ 
has  overwhelmed  whole  nations,  and  that  the  whole  country 
is  there  laid  under  water  by  a  great  deluge  ;  that  cities  are 
tottering,  the  earth  sinking  down — this  she  tells  in  every 
place  of  resort  to  every  one  she  meets. 

And  yet  that  vice  is  not  more  intolerable,  than  that, 
though  earnestly  entreated,*  she  will  seize  upon  her  poor 
neighbors,  and  have  them  cut  in  two  with  lashes.  For  if  her 
sound  slumbers  are  disturbed  by  the  barking  of  a  dog, 

Bring  the  clubs^  here  at  once  !"  she  cries  :  and  orders  the  ^ 
owner  first  to  be  beaten  with  them,  and  then  the  dog.  Terri- 
ble to  encounter,  most  awful  in  visage,  she  enters  the  baths 
by  night — by  night  she  orders  her  bathing  vessels  and  camp 

charia.  It  was  the  country  from  which  the  "Sericae  vestes"  or 
"multitia"  (ii.,  66)  came. 

1  Instantem.  Cf.  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  iii.,  3,  "vultus  instantis  tyranni." 
Trajan  made  an  expedition  against  the  Armenians  and  Partians  a.d. 
106 ;  and  about  the  same  time  there  was  an  earthquake  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Antioch  (a.d,  115),  when  mountains  subsided  and  rivers 
burst  forth.  Dio  Cass.,  Ixviii.,  24.  Trajan  himself  narrowly  escaped 
perishing  in  it.  The  consul,  M.  Verginianus  Pedo,  was  killed.  Tra- 
jan was  passing  the  winter  there,  and  set  out  in  the  spring  for  Ar- 
menia.—Cowe^ew.  Cf.  Suet.,  Ner.,  36,  "Stella  crinita  quae  summis 
potestatibus  exitium  portendere  vulgo  putatur." 

2  Excipit.   "  Hear  at  the  city's  gate  the  recent  tale. 

Or  coin  a  lie  herself  when  rumors  fail."  Hodgson. 

3  Niphates.  Properly  a  mountain  in  Armenia,  from  which  Tigris 
takes  its  rise,  and  which,  in  the  earlier  part  of  its  course,  may  have 
borne  the  name  of  Niphates.  Lucan,  iii.,  245,  and  Sil.  Ital.,  xiii.,  765, 
also  speak  of  it  as  a  river.  Gififord  thinks  it  is  a  sly  hit  at  the  lady, 
who  converts  a  mountain  into  a  river. 

4  Exorata  implies  that  their  prayers  were  heard,  otherwise  their 
punishment  would  have  been  still  more  cruel. 

5  Pastes.    "  Ho  whips!  she  cries;  and  flay  that  cur  accurst, 

But  flay  ihe  rascal  there  that  owns  him  first !"  Gifford, 


SATIRE  VI. 


77 


to  be  set  in  motion.  She  delights  in  perspiring  with  great 
tumult ;  when  her  arms  have  sunk  down  wearied  with  the 
heavy  dumb-bells  ;  and  the  sly  anointer  has  omitted  to  rub 
down  no  part  of  her  body.  Her  poor  wretches  of  guests 
meanwhile  are  overcome  with  drowsiness  and  hunger.  At 
last  the  lady  comes  ;  flushed,  and  thirsty  enough  for  a  whole 
flagon,  1  which  is  placed  at  her  feet  and  filled  from  a  huge 
pitcher  :  of  which  a  second  pint  is  drained  before  she  tastes 
food,  to  make  her  appetite^  quite  ravenous.  Then  having 
rinsed  out  her  stomach,  the  wine  returns  in  a  cascade  on  the 
floor — rivers  gush  over  the  marble  pavement,^  or  the  broad 
vessel  reeks  of  Falernian — for  thus,  just  as  when  a  long  snake 
has  glided  into  a  deep  cask,  she  drinks  and  vomits.  There- 
fore her  husband  turns  sick  ;  and  with  eyes  closed  smothers 
his  rising  bile. 

And  yet  that  woman  is  more  offensive  still,  who,  as  soon 
as  she  has  taken  her  place  at  table,  praises  Virgil,  and  ex- 
cuses the  suicide  of  Dido  :  matches  and  compares  poets  to- 
gether :  in  one  scale  weighs  Maro  in  the  balance,  and  Ho- 
mer in  the  other.  The  grammarians  yield  ;  rhetoricians 
are  confuted  ;  the  whole  company  is  silenced  ;  neither  law- 
yer nor  crier*  can  put  in  a  word,  nor  even  another  woman. 
Such  a  torrent  of  words  pours  forth,  you  would  say  so  many 
basins  or  bells  were  all  being  struck  at  once.  Henceforth 

1  CEnophorum.  A  vessel  of  any  size.  The  Urna  is  a  determinate 
measure,  holding  24  sextarii,  or  about  3  gallons,  i.e.,  half  the  am- 
phora. Cf.  xii.,  45,  "  Urnte  cratera  capacem,  et  dignum  sitiente  Pholo. 
vel  coDjuge  Fusci." 

2  Orexim;  cf.  iv.,  67, 138.  This  draught  was  called  the  "Trope.'* 
Mart.,  xii.,  Ep.  83.  Cf.  Cic.  Pro  Deiotaro,  7,  "  Vomunt  ut  edant :  edunt 
ut  vomant." 

3  Marmoribus.  Cf.  xi.,  173,  *'  Lacedsemonium  pytismate  lubricat  or- 
bem."  Hor.,  ii.,  Od,  xxiv.,  26,  '"Mero  tinguet  pavimentum  super- 
bum." 

4  Prseco. 

"  Dumfounders  e'en  the  crier,  and,  most  strange  ! 
No  other  woman  can  a  word  exchange."  Hodgson. 


78 


JUVENAL. 


let  no  one  trouble  trumpets  or  brazen  vessels  ;  slie  will  be 
able  singly  to  relieve  the  moon  when  sufferingi  an  eclipse. 
The  philosopher  sets  a  limit  even  to  those  things  which  are 
good  in  themselves.  For  she  that  desires  to  appear  too 
learned  and  eloquent,  ought  to  wear  a  tunic* reaching  only  to 
the  middle  of  the  leg,  to  sacrifice  a  pig  to  Sylvanus,^  and 
bathe  for  a  quadrans.  Let  not  the  matron  that  shares  your 
marriage-bed  possess  a  set  style  of  eloquence,  or  hurl  in  well- 
rounded  sentence  the  enthymeme  curtailed'  of  its  premiss  ; 
nor  be  acquainted  with  all  histories.  But  let  there  be  some 
things  in  books  which  she  does  not  understand.  I  hate  her 
who  is  forever  poring  over  and  studying  Palsemon's*  treatise; 
who  never  violates  the  rules  and  principles  of  grammar;  and 
skilled  in  antiquarian  lore,  quotes  verses  I  never  knew  ;  and 
corrects  the  phrases  of  her  friend  as  old-fashioned,  5  which 
men  would  never  heed.  A  husband  should  have  the  privi- 
lege of  committing  a  solecism. 


1  Laboranti.  The  ancients  believed  that  eclipses  of  the  moon  were 
caused  by  magic,  and  that  loud  noises  broke  the  charm. 

*'  Strike  not  your  brazen  kettles!    She  alone 
Can  break  th'  enchantment  of  the  spell-bound  moon."  Hodgson. 

2  "  %^mno  mulieres  non  licet  sacrificare."  Vet.  Schol.  Women 
sacrificed  to  Ceres  and  Juno.  Vid.  Dennis'  Etruria,  ii.,  65-68.  Cf. 
Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  i.,  \4^^.— Quadrans.  Philosophers  used  to  go  to  the  com- 
monest baths,  either  from  modesty  or  poverty.  Seneca  calls  the  bath 
"  Res  Quadrantaria."    Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  iii,,  147.    Cic.  pro  Coel. 

Quadrantaria  permutatio." 

3  Torqueat.  Cf.  vii.,  156,  ''Quae  venient  diversse  forte  sagittse." 
Quint.,  vi.,  3,  "  Jaculatio  verborum."  So  Plato  uses  the  term  Seti^b? 
a.Kovri.(TTri<;,  of  a  Spartan  orator. 

4  Palsemon.  Cf.  vii.,  215,  "Docti  Palsemonis."  "Insignis  Gramma- 
ticus."  Hieron.  "Remmius  Palsemon,  Vicentinus,  owed  his  first 
acquaintance  with  literature  to  taking  his  mistress'  son  to  school 
as  his  "  custos  angustse  vernula  capsse"  (x.,  117).  Manumitted  after- 
ward, he  taught  at  Rome  in  the  reigns  of  Tiberius  and  Claudius,  and 
"principem  locum  inter  grammaticos  tenuit."  Vid.  Suet.,  Gram. 
lUust.,  23,  who  says  he  kept  a  very  profitable  school,  and  gives  many 
curious  instances  of  his  vanity  and  luxuriousness.  He  was  Quintil- 
ian's  master.  Cf.  Vet.  Schol.,  and  Clinton,  Fasti  Rom.  in  anno,  a.d. 
48. 

5  Opicse.  Cf.  iii.,  207,  "  Opici  mures."  Opizein  Grseci  dicunt  de  iis 
qui  imperite  ioquuntur.   Vet.  Schol. 


SATIRE  VI. 


79 


There  is  nothing  a  woman  will  not  allow  herself,  nothing 
she  holds  disgraceful,  when  she  has  encircled  her  neck  with 
emeralds,  and  inserted  earrings  of  great  size  in  her  ears, 
stretched  with  their  weight.  Nothing  is  more  unbearable 
than  a  rich  woman  ! 

Meanwhile  her  face,  shocking  to  look  at,  or  ridiculous 
from  the  large  poultice,  is  all  swollen  ;  or  is  redolent  of  rich 
Poppaean  unguents,  ^  with  which  the  lips  of  her  wretched 
husband  are  glued  up.  She  will  present  herself  to  her 
adulterer  with  skin  washed  clean.  When  does  she  choose 
to  appear  beautiful  at  home  ?  It  is  for  the  adulterers  her 
perfumes  are  prepared.  It  is  for  these  she  purchases  all 
that  the  slender  Indians  send  us.  At  length  she  uncases 
her  face  and  removes  the  first  layer.  She  begins  to  be 
herself  again ;  and  bathes  in  that  milk,^  for  which  she 
carries  in  her  train  she- asses,  even  if  sent  an  exile  to  Hy- 
perborean climes.  But  that  which  is  overlaid  and  fomented 
with  so  many  and  oft-changed  cosmetics,  and  receives  poul- 


1  Poppseana.  Cosmetics  used  or  invented  by  Poppsea  Sabina,"  of 
whom  Tacitus  says,  "  Huic  mulieri  cuncta  alia  fuere  prseter  hones- 
tum  animum,"  Ann.,  xiii.,  45.  She  was  of  surpassing  beauty  and  in- 
satiable ambition:  married  first  to  Rufus  Crispinus,  a  knight  whom 
she  quitted  for  Otho.  Nero  became  enamored  of  her,  and  sent  Otho 
into  Lusitania,  where  he  remained  ten  years.  (Cf.  Suet.,  Otho,  3. 
Clinton,  F,  R.,a.  58.)  Four  years  after  he  put  away  Octavia,  banished 
her  to  Pandataria,  and  forced  her  to  make  away  with  herself,  and 
her  head  was  brouglit  to  Pome  to  be  gazed  upon  by  Poppsea,  whom 
he  had  now  married,  a.d.  62.  Cf  Tac,  Ann,,  xiv.,  64.  Poppaea  bore 
him  a  child  next  year,  whom  he  called  Augusta,  but  she  died  before 
she  was  four  months  old,  to  his  excessive  grief  Cf  xv.,  23.  Three 
years  after,  "  Poppsea  mortem  obiit,  fortuita  mariti  iracundia,  a  quo 
gravida  ictu  calcis  adflicta  est."  Nero,  it  is  remarkable,  died  on  the 
same  day  of  the  month  as  the  unfortunate  Octavia. 

2  Lacte.  The  old  Schol.  says  Foppxa  was  banished,  and  took  with 
her  fifty  she-asses  to  furnish  milk  for  her  bath.  The  story  of  her  ex- 
ile is  very  problematical,  as  Heinrich  shows,  and  is  probably  only  an 
ordinary  hyperbole.  Pliny  says  (xxviii.,  12;  xi.,  41)  that  asses'  milk 
is  supposed  to  make  the  face  tender,  and  delicately  white,  and  to 
prevent  wrinkles.  "  Unde  Poppsea  uxor  Neronis,  quocunque  ire  con- 
tigisset  secum  sexcentas  asellas  ducebat."  dvov;  Trewra^coo-ias  aprtTo- 
*:ovs.   Xiph  ,  lxii.,28. 


8o 


JUVENAL. 


tices  of  b^nled  and  damp  flour,  shall  we  call  it  a  face,i  or  a 
sore? 

It  is  worth  while  to  find  out  exactly  what  their  occupa- 
tions and  pursuits  are  through  the  livelong  day.  If  her  hus- 
band has  gone  to  sleep  with  his  back  toward  her,  the  house- 
keeper is  half  killed — the  tire-women  are  stripped  to  be 
whipped — the  Liburnian  slave  is  accused  of  having  come 
behind  his  time,  and  is  forced  to  pay  the  penalty  of  another's 
sleep  ;  one  has  rods  broken^  about  him,  another  bleeds  from 
the  whips,  a  third  from  the  cowhide.  Some  women  pay  a 
regular  salary  to  their  torturers.  While  he  lashes  she  is 
employed  in  enameling  her  face.  She  listens  to  her  friend's 
chat,  or  examines  the  broad  gold  of  an  embroidered  robe. 
Still  he  lashes.  She  pores  over  the  items  in  her  long  diary 
Still  he  lashes.  Until  at  length,  when  the  torturers  are  ex- 
hausted, ^'Begone!"  she  thunders  out  in  awful  voice,  the 
inquisition  being  now  complete. 

The  government  of  her  house  is  no  more  merciful  than 
the  court  of  a  Sicilian  tyrant.  For  if  she  has  made  an  as- 
signation, and  is  anxious  to  be  dressed  out  more  becomingly 
than  usual,  and  is  in  a  hurry,  and  has  been  some  time  already 
waited  for  in  the  gardens,  or  rather  near  the  chapels  of  the 

1  Fades. 

"  Can  it  be  call'd  a  face,  so  poulticed  o'er? 

By  heavens,  an  ulcer  it  resembles  more !"  Hodgson. 
"  But  tell  me  yet,  this  thing  thus  daub'd  and  oil'd, 

Thus  poulticed,  plaster' d,  baked  by  turns  and  boil'd  ; 

Thus  with  pomatums,  ointments,  lackered  o'er, 

Is  it  a  face,  Ursidius,  or  a  sore?"  Giflford. 

2  Frangit.  Cf,  viii.,  247,  "  Nodosam  post  hsec  frangebat  vertice 
vitem."  The  climax  here  is  not  correctly  observed,  according  to 
Horace.  "  Nc  scutica  dignum  horribili  sectere  flagello :  Nam,  ut 
ferula  cffidas  meritum  majora  subire  Verbera  non  vereor."  I.,  Sat. 
ili.,  119.  The  scutica  was  probably  like  the  "  taurea :"  the  cowskin  " 
of  the  American  slave  States. 

3  Diurnum.  ''The  diary  of  the  household  expenses."  Meiegit 
marks  the  deliberate  cruelty  of  the  lady. 

"  Beats  while  she  paints  her  face,  surveys  her  gown, 
Casts  up  the  day's  accounts,  and  still  beats  on."  Dryden. 


SATIRE  VI. 


81 


Isiac^  procuress  ;  poor  Psecas  arranges  her  hair,  herself  with 
disheveled  locks  and  naked  shoulders  and  naked  breasts. 
''Why  is'  this  curl  too  high?"  Instantly  the  cowhide 
avenges  the  heinous  crime  of  the  misplacing  of  a  hair. 
What  has  poor  Psecas  done?  What  crime  is  it  of  the  poor 
girl's  if  your  own  nose  has  displeased  you? 

Another,  on  the  left  hand,  draws  out  and  combs  her  curls 
and  rolls  them  into  a  band.  The  aged  matron  assists  at  the 
council,  who,  having  served  her  due  period'-^  at  the  needle, 
now  presides  over  weighing  out  the  tasks  of  wool.  Her 
opinion  will  be  first  taken.  Then  those  who  are  her  inferiors 
in  years  and  skill  will  vote  in  order,  as  though  their  mis- 
tress's good  name  or  life  were  at  stake.  So  great  is  the 
anxiety  of  getting  beauty  !  Into  so  many  tiers  she  forms 
her  curls,  so  many  stages  high  she  builds^  her  head  ;  in  front 
you  will  look  upon  an  Andromache,  behind  she  is  a  dwarf — 
you  would  imagine  her  another  person.  Excuse  her,  pray, 
if  nature  has  assigned  her  but  a  short  back,  and  if,  without 
the  aid  of  high-heeled  buskins,  she  looks  shorter  than  a 
Pigmy*  maiden  ;  and  must  spring  lightly  up  on  tip-toe  for 
a  kiss.  No  thought  meanwhile  about  her  husband  !  not  a 
word  of  her  ruinous  expenditure  !  She  lives  as  though  she 
were  merely  a  neighbor^  of  her  husband's,  and  in  this 

^  Isiacas.  Cf.  ix.,22, Fanumlsidis  .  .  .  Notior  AuMio  moechus 
celebrare  solebas." 

2  Emerita.  From  the  soldier  who  has  served  his  time  and  become 
"  emeritus." 

3  jEdificat. 

"So  high  she  builds  her  head,  she  seems  to  be, 
View  her  in  front,  a  tall  Andromache  ; 
But  walk  all  round  her,  and  you'll  quickly  find 
She's  not  so  great  a  personage  behind  !"  Hodgson. 
*  Pygmxd. 

"  Yet  not  a  pigmy— were  she,  she'd  be  right 
To  wear  the  buskin  and  increase  her  height ; 
To  gain  from  art  what  nature's  stint  denies, 
Nor  lightly  to  the  kiss  on  tip-toes  rise."  Hodgson. 
5  Vicina. 

And  save  that  daily  she  insults  his  friends, 
4* 


82 


JUVENAL. 


respect  alone  is  nearer  to  him — that  she  hates  her  husband's 
friends  and  slaves,  and  makes  grievous  inroads  on  his  purse. 

But  see  !  the  chorus  of  the  maddened  Bellona  and  the 
mother  of  the  gods  enters  the  house  !  and  the  huge  eunuch 
(a  face  to  be  revered  by  his  obscene  inferior)  who  long  ago 
emasculated  himself  with  a  broken  shell ;  to  whom  his  hoarse 
troop  and  the  plebeian  drummers  give  place,  and  whose  cheek 
is  covered  with  his  Phrygian  tiara.  With  voice  grandilo- 
quent he  bids  her  dread  the  approach  of  September  and  the 
autumn  blasts,  unless  she  purifies  herself  with  a  hecatomb 
of  eggs,  and  makes  a  present  to  him  of  her  cast-off  murrey- 
colored^  robes  :  that  whatever  unforeseen  or  mighty  peril 
may  be  impending  over  her  may  pass  into  the  tunics,  and  at 
once  expiate  the  whole  year.  She  will  break  the  ice  and 
plunge  into  the  river  in  the  depth  of  winter,  or  dip  three 
times  in  Tiber  at  early  dav/n,  and  bathe  her  timid  head  in 
its  very  eddies,  and  thence  emerging  will  crawl  on  bleeding 
knees,  naked  and  shivering,  over  the  whole  field  of  the 
haughty  king.^  If  white  lo  command,  she  will  go  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  Egypt,  and  bring  back  water  fetched  from  scorch- 
ing Meroe,  to  sprinkle  on  the  temple  of  Isis,  that  rears  it- 
self hard  by  the  ancient  sheepfold.^  For  she  believes  that 
the  warning  is  given  her  by  the  voice  of  the  goddess  herself. 
And  this,  forsooth,  is  a  fit  soul  and  mind*  for  the  gods  to 

Provokes  his  servants,  and  his  fortune  spends, 
As  a  mere  neighbor  she  might  pass  through  life, 
And  ne'er  be  once  mistaken  for  his  wife."  Badham. 

1  Xerampelinas.  The  Schol.  describes  this  color  as ' '  inter  coccinum 
et  muricem  medius,"  from  ^Tjpb?,  siccus,  a/u-TreXo?,  vitis,  "  the  color  of  , 
vine  leaves  in  autumn  ;  "  the  "  morte  feuille  "  of  French  dyers. 

2  Superbi.  The  Campus  Martins,  as  having  belonged  originally  to 
Tarquinius  Superbus. 

^  Ovile,  more  commonly  ovilia  or  septa,  stood  in  the  Campus  Mar- 
tius,  where  the  elections  were  held. 

Animam,  "the  moral,"  mentem,  "the  intellectual  part  "of  the 
soul.  Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  II,  "  Cui  mentem  animamque  Delius  in- 
spirat  Vates."   When  opposed  to  animus,  anima  is  simply  *'  the  prin- 


SATIRE  VI. 


83 


hold  converse  with  by  night !  He  therefore  gains  the  chief 
and  highest  honor,  who,  surrounded  by  his  linen-robed 
flock,  ^  and  a  bald-headed  throng  of  people  uttering  lamenta- 
tions, runs  to  and  fro  personating  the  grinning  Anubis.  He 
it  is  that  supplicates  for  pardon  whenever  the  wife  does  not 
refrain  from  nuptial  joys  on  days  to  be  observed  as  sacred, 
and  a  heavy  penalty  is  incurred  from  the  violation  of  the 
snowy  sheeting.  And  the  silver  serpent  was  seen  to  nod  his 
head  !  His  are  the  tears,  and  his  the  studied  mumblings, 
that  prevail  on  Osiris  not  to  withhold  pardon  for  her  fault, 
when  bribed  by  a  fat  goose  and  a  thin  cake.  When  he  has 
withdrawn,  some  trembling  Jewess,  having  quitted  her  bas- 
ket and  hay,  begs  in  her  secret  ear,  the  interpretess  of  the 

ciple  of  vitality."  "  Anima,  qua  vivimus  ;  mens  qua  cogitamus." 
Lactant.  So  Sat.,  xv.,  148,  **  Indulsit  communis  conditor  illis  tantum 
animas  nobis  animum  quoque." 

"Doubtless  such  kindred  minds  th'  immortals  seek, 
And  such  the  souls  with  whom  by  night  they  speak."  Badham. 
1  Linigero.  Cf.  Mart.,  xii.,  Ep.  xxix.,  19,  Linigeri  fugiunt  calvi 
sistrataque  turba."  Isis  is  said  to  have  been  a  queen  of  Egypt,  and 
to  have  taught  her  subjects  the  use  of  linen,  for  v^hich  reason  the  in- 
ferior priests  vv^ere  all  clothed  in  it.  All  who  were  about  to  celebrate 
her  sacred  rites  had  their  heads  shaved.  Isis  married  Osiris,  who 
was  killed  by  his  brother  Typhon,  and  his  body  thrown  into  a  well, 
where  Isis  and  her  son  Anubis,  by  the  assistance  of  dogs,  found  it. 
Osiris  was  thenceforth  deified  under  the  form  of  an  ox,  and  called 
Apis:  Anubis,  under  the  form  of  a  dog.  (Hence  Virg.,  ^n.,  viii., 
698,  '*  Latrator  Anubis.")  An  ox,  therefore,  with  particular  marks 
(vid.  Strab.,  xvii.;  Herod.,  iii.,  28),  was  kept  in  great  state,  which 
Osiris  was  supposed  to  animate ;  but  when  it  had  reached  a  certain 
age  (non  est  fas  eum  certos  vitse  excedere  annos,  Plin.,  viii..  46),  it 
was  drowned  in  a  well  (mersum  in  sacerdotum  fonte  enecant)  with 
much  ceremonious  sorrow,  and  the  priests,  attended  by  an  immense 
concourse  of  people,  dispersed  themselves  over  the  country,  wailing 
and  lamenting,  in  quest  of  another  with  the  prescribed  marks  (quse- 
situri  luctu  alium  quem  substituant ;  et  donee  invenerint  mserent, 
derasis  etiam  capitibus.  Plin.,  ii.,  3).  When  they  had  found  one, 
their  lamentations  were  exchanged  for  songs  of  joy  and  shouts  of  evpi?- 
Ka^^€v  (cf.  viii.,  29,  Exclamare  libet  populus  quod  clamai  Osiri  in- 
vento),  and  the  ox  was  led  back  to  the  shrine  of  his  predecessor. 
These  gloomy  processions  lasted  some  days ;  and  generally  during 
these  (or  nine  days  at  least)  women  abstained  from  intercourse  with 
their  husbands.   These  rites  were  introduced  at  Rome,  the  chief 

riest  personating  Anubis,  and  wearing  a  dog's  head.  Hence  devisor. 

f.  XV.,  8,  "  Oppida  tota  canem  venerantur." 


84 


JUVENAL. 


laws  of  Solyma,  the  potent  priestess  of  the  tree — the  trusty 
go-between  from  highest  heaven  !^  And  she  crosses  her 
hand  with  money,  but  sparingly  enough  :  for  Jews  will  sell 
you  any  dreams  you  please  for  the  minutest  coin.  The 
soothsayer  of  Armenia  or  Commagene,^  handling  the  liver 
of  the  dove  still  reeking,  engages  that  her  lover  shall  be  de- 
voted, or  promises  the  rich  inheritance  of  some  childless 
rich  man  ;  he  pries  into  the  breasts  of  chickens  and  the  en- 
trails of  a  puppy  ;  sometimes  too  even  of  a  child — he  does 
acts  of  which  he  will  himself  turn  informer  !^ 

But  their  confidence  in  Chaldseans  will  be  greater  still : 
whatever  the  astrologer  tells  them,  they  will  believe  reported 
straight  from  the  fountain  of  Ammon  ;  since  at  Delphi  the 
oracles  are  dumb,  and  darkness  as  to  the  future  is  the 
punishment  of  the  human  race.  However,  of  these  he  is 
in  the  highest  repute  who  has  been  often  banished ;  by 
whose  friendship  and  venal*  tablets  it  came  to  pass  that  a 
citizen  of  high  rank^  died,  and  one  dreaded  by  Otho.  Hence 
arises  confidence  in  his  art,  if  both  his  hands  have  clanked 
with  chains,  and  he  has  been  long  an  inmate  of  the  camp- 
prison.  No  astrologer  that  has  never  been  condemned  will 
have  any  reputation  for  genius  ;  but  he  that  has  hardly  es- 
caped with  his  life,  and  scarcely  had  good  fortune  enough 


1  *'  Her  internuntial  office  none  deny. 

Between  us  peccant  mortals  and  the  sky."  Badham. 

2  Commagene  was  reduced  to  a  province  a.d.  72. 

3  Beferat.   "  Or  bid.  at  times,  the  human  victim  bleed, 

And  then  inform  against  you  for  the  deed."  Hodgson. 

4  Conducenda. 

*'  By  whose  hired  tablet  and  concurring  spell, 
The  noble  Roman,  Otho's  terror,  fell."  Hodgson. 

5  Magnus  civls.  Cf.  Suet.,  Otho,  4,  "  Spem  majorem  cepit  ex  affirma- 
tione  Seleuci  Mathematici,  qui  cum  eum  olim  superstitem  Neronl  fore 
spopondisset,  tunc  ultro  inopinatus  advenerat,  imperaturum  quoque 
brevi  repromittens."  Cf.  Tac,  Hist.,  i.,  22,  who  says  one  Ptolemseus 
promised  Otho  the  same  when  with  him  in  Spain.  Ptolemy  helped 
to  fulfill  his  own  prediction,  "  Nec  Deerat  Ptolemseus,  jam  et  sceleris 
instinctor,  ad  quod  facillim^  ab  ejusmodi  voto  tiansitur." 


SATIRE  VI. 


85 


to  be  sent  to  one  of  the  Cyelades,^  and  at  length  to  be  set 
free  from  the  confined  Seriphos,  he  it  is  whom  your  Tana- 
quil2  consults  about  the  death  of  her  jaundiced  mother,  for 
which  she  has  been  long  impatient ;  but  first,  about  your- 
self !  when  she  may  hope  to  follow  to  the  grave  her  sister 
and  her  uncles  ;  w^hether  her  adulterer  will  survive  her,  for 
what  greater  boon  than  this  have  the  gods  in  their  power  to 
bestow  ? 

And  yet  she  is  ignorant  what  the  ill-omened  planet  of 
Saturn  forebodes  ;  with  what  star  Venus  presents  herself  in 
fortunate  conjunction  ;  what  is  the  month  for  ill-luck  ;  what 
seasons  are  assigned  to  profit. 

Remember  to  shun  even  a  casual  meeting  with  her  in  whose 
hands  you  see,  like  the  unctuous  amber,  ^  their  calendars  well 
thumbed  ;  who  instead  of  consulting  others  is  now  herself 
consulted  ;  who  when  her  husband  is  going  to  join  his  camp 
or  revisit  his  home,  will  refuse  to  accompany  him  if  re- 
strained by  the  calculations  of  Thrasyllus.*  When  it  is  her 
fancy  to  ride  as  far  as  the  first  mile-stone,  the  lucky  hour  is 
taken  from  her  book  ;  if  the  corner  of  her  eye  itches  when 
she  rubs  it,  she  calls  for  ointment  after  a  due  inspection  of 
her  horoscope  :  though  she  lies  sick  in  bed  no  hour  appears 


1  Cyclada.  Cf.  i.,  73,  "  Aude  aliquid  brevibus  Gyaris  et  carcere  dig- 
num."   X.,  170,  "  Ut  Gyarae  clausus  scopulis  parvaque  Seripho." 

2  Tanaquil.  Cf.  Liv.,  i.,34,  "  perita  coelestium  prodigiorum  mulier." 

'*  To  him  thy  Tanaquil  applies,  in  doubt 
How  long  her  jaundiced  mother  may  hold  out."  Gifford. 

3  Pinguia  sucina.  The  Roman  women  used  to  hold  or  rub  amber 
in  their  hands  for  its  scent.  Mart.,  iii.,  Ep.  Ixv.,  5,  "  redolent  quod 
sucina  trita."  Xi.,  Ep.  viii.,  6,  "spirant,  succina  virginea  quod 
regelata  manu."    Cf.  v.,  Ep.  xxxviii.,  11.    (Cf.  ix.,  50.) 

"  By  whom  a  greasy  almanac  is  borne. 
With  often  handling,  like  chafed  amber  worn."  Dryden. 

4  Thrasyllus  was  the  astrologer  under  whom  Tiberius  studied  the 
"  Chaldean  art "  at  Rhodes  (Tac,  Ann.,  vi.,  20),  and  accompanied  his 
patron  to  Rome.  (Cf.  Suet.,  Aug.,  98.)  Cf.  Suet.,  Tib.,  14,  62,  and  Ca- 
lig.,  19,  for  a  curious  prediction  belied  by  Caligula. 


86  JUVENAL. 


suited  to  taking  food,  save  that  which  Petosiris^  has  directed. 
If  she  be  of  moderate  means,  she  will  traverse  the  space  on 
both  sides  of  the  pillars  of  the  circus,  and  draw  lots,  and 
present  her  forehead  and  her  hand  to  the  fortune-teller  that 
asks  for  the  frequent  palming.  The  rich  will  obtain  answers 
from  some  soothsayer  of  Phrygia  or  India  hired  for  the  pur- 
pose, from  some  one  skilled  in  the  stars  and  heavens,  or  one 
advanced  in  years  who  expiates  the  public  places  which  the 
lightning^  has  struck.  The  destiny  of  the  plebeians  is  learnt 
in  the  circus,  and  at  Tarquin's  rampart.^  She  that  has  no 
long  necklace  of  gold  to  display,  inquires  in  front  of  the 
obelisks  and  the  dolphin-columns,*  whether  she  shall  jilt 
the  tapster  and  marry  the  old-clothes  man. 

Yet  these,  when  circumstances  so  require,  are  ready  to  en- 
counter the  perils  of  childbirth,  and  endure  all  the  irksome 
toils  of  nursing.  But  rarely  does  a  gilded  bed  contain  a 
woman  lying-in  :  so  potent  are  the  arts  and  drugs  of  her  that 
can  insure  barrenness,  and  for  bribes  kill  men  while  yet  un- 

1  Petosiris,  another  famous  astrologer  and  physician.  Plin.,  ii., 
23  ;  vii.,  49. 

2  Fulgura.  When  a  place  was  struck  by  lightning,  a  priest  was 
sent  for  to  purify  it,  a  two-year  old  sheep  was  then  sacrificed,  and  the 
ground,  hence  called  bidental,  fenced  in. 

3  Agger.  The  mound  to  the  east  of  Rome,  thrown  up  by  Tarquinius 
Superbus.  Cf.  viii.,  43,  "  ventoso  conducta  sub  aggere  texit."  Hor., 
i.,  Sat.,  viii.,  15,  "Aggere  in  aprico  spatiari." 

4  Phalas.  The  Circensian  games  were  originally  consecrated  to 
Neptunus  Equestris,  or  Consus.  Hence  the  dolphins  on  the  columns 
in  the  Circus  Maximus.  The  circus  was  divided  along  the  middle 
by  the  Spina,  at  each  extremity  of  which  stood  three  pillars  (metse) 
round  which  the  chariots  turned:  along  this  spine  were  seven 
movable  towers  or  obelisks,  called  from  their  oval  form  ova,  or 
phalse ;  one  was  taken  down  at  the  end  of  each  course.  There  were 
four  factions  in  the  circus,  Blue,  Green  (xi.,  196),  White,  and  Red, 
xii,,  114;  to  which  Domitian  added  the  Golden  and  the  Purple. 
Suet.,  Domit.,  7.  The  egg  was  the  badge  of  the  Green  faction  (which 
was  the  general  favorite),  the  dolphin  of  the  Blue  or  sea  party.  For 
the  form  of  these,  see  the  Florentine  gem  in  Milman's  Horace,  p.  3. 
Bottinger  has  a  curious  theory,  that  the  four  colors  symbolize  the 
four  elements,  the  green  being  the  earth.  The  circus  was  the  rCvSort 
of  prostitutes  (iii.,  65)  and  itinerant  fortune-tellers.  (Hence  "  faUcLX," 
Hor.,  i.,  Sat.,  vi.,  113.)   Cf  Suet.,  Jul.,  39,  and  Claud.,  21. 


SATIRE  VI. 


87 


born.  Yet  grieve  not  at  this,  poor  wretch  !  and  with  thine 
own  hand  give  thy  wife  the  potion,  whatever  it  be  :  for  did 
she  choose  to  bear  her  leaping  children  in  her  womb,  thou 
wouldst  perchance  become  the  sire  of  an  ^Ethiop  ;  a  blacka- 
moor would  soon  be  your  sole  heir,  one  whom  you  would 
not  see  of  a  morning/ 

I  say  nothing  of  supposititious  children,  and  all  a  hus- 
band's joys  and  fond  hopes  baffled  at  the  dirty  pools  ;2  and 
the  Pontifices  and  Salii  selected  thence,  who  are  to  bear  in 
their  counterfeit  persons  the  noble  name  of  Scauri.  Fortune, 
that  delights  in  mischief,  takes  her  stand  by  night  and  smiles 
upon  the  naked  babes.  All  these  she  cherishes  and  fosters 
in  her  bosom :  then  proffers  them  to  the  houses  of  the  great, 
and  prepares  in  secret  a  rich  sport  for  herself.  These  she 
dotes  on  i-^  on  these  she  forces  her  favors  ;  and  smiling,  leads 
them  on  to  advancement  as  her  own  foster-children. 

One  fellow  offers  a  wife  magical  incantations.  Another 
sells  her  love  potions  from  Thessaly,  to  give  her  power  to 
disturb  her  husband's  intellects,  and  punish  him  with  the 
indignity  of  the  slipper.  To  these  it  is  owing  that  you  are 
reduced  to  dotage  :  hence  comes  that  dizziness  of  brain,  that 
strange  forgetfulness  of  things  that  you  have  but  just  now 

1  Mane.  "The  first  thing  seen"  in  the  morning  was  a  most  im- 
portant omen  of  the  good  or  bad  luck  of  the  whole  day.  This  is  well 
turned  by  Hodgson : 

"The  sooty  embryo,  had  he  sprung  to  light, 
Had  heir'd  thy  will  and  petrified  thy  sight ; 
Each  morn  with  horror  hadst  thou  turn'd  away, 
Lest  the  dark  omen  should  o'ercloud  the  day." 

2  Spurcos  lacus.  Infants  were  exposed  by  the  Milk-pillar  in  the 
Herb-market :  the  low  ground  on  which  this  stood,  at  the  base  of 
Aventine,  Palatine,  and  Capitoline,  was  often  flooded  and  covered 
with  stagnant  pools.  "  Hoc  ubi  nunc  fora  sunt  udse  tenuere  paludes," 
Ov.,  Fast.,  vi.,  401.   The  "  Velabri  regio  "  of  TibulL,  ii.,  v.,  33. 

"  The  beggars'  bantlings  spawn'd  in  open  air. 
And  left  by  some  pond-side  to  perish  there  ; 
From  hence  your  Flamens,  hence  your  Salii  come, 
Your  Scauri  chiefs  and  magistrates  of  Rome."  Giflford. 
s  Mimum.   Cf.  iii.,  40,  "  Quoties  voluii  Fortuna  jocari." 


88 


JUVENAL. 


done.  Yet  even  this  is  endurable,  if  you  do  not  go  raving 
mad  as  well,  like  that  uncle  of  Nero  for  whom  his  Csesonia 
infused  the  whole  forehead  of  a  foal  new  dropped.  Who 
will  not  follow  where  the  empress  leads  ?  All  things  were 
/Wrapped  in  flames  and  with  joints  disruptured  were  totter- 
ing to  their  fall,  exactly  as  if  Juno  had  driven  her  spouse  to 
madness.  Therefore  the  mushroom^  of  Agrippina  had  far 
less  of  guilt :  since  that  stopped  the  breath  but  of  a  single 
old  man,  and  bade  his  trembling  head  descend  to  heaven,^ 
and  his  lips  that  slavered  with  dribbling  saliva.  Whereas 
this  potion  of  Csesonia^  calls  aloud  for  fire  and  sword  and 
tortures,  and  mangles  in  one  bloody  mass  both  senators  and 
knights.  So  potent  is  a  mare's  offspring  !  Such  mighty 
ruin  can  one  sorceress  work  ! 

Women  hate  their  husbands'  spurious  issue.  No  one 
would  object  or  forbid  that.  But  now  it  is  thought  allow- 
able to  kill  even  their  husbands'  sons  by  a  former  mar- 
riage. 

Take  my  warning,  ye  that  are  under  age  and  have  a  large 
estate,  keep  watch  over  your  lives  !  trust  not  a  single  dish  ! 
The  rich  meats  steam,  livid  with  poison  of  your  mother's 
mixing.  Let  some  one,  take  a  bite  before  you  of  whatever 
she  that  bore  you  hands  you  ;  let  your  pedagogue,  in  terror 
of  his  life,  be  taster  of  your  cups. 

All  this  is  our  invention?  and  Satire  is  borrowing  the 
tragic  buskin,  forsooth  ;  and  transgressing  the  limits  pre- 
scribed by  those  who  trod  the  path  before  us,  we  are  wildly 

1  Boletus.  Cf.  v.,  147.  Nero  used  to  call  mushrooms  "  the  food  of  the 
^ods"  after  this.  Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  33.  Tac,  Ann.,  xii.,66,  7.  Mart., 
1,,  Ep.  xxi. 

2  That  only  closed  the  driveling  dotard's  eyes, 

And  sent  his  godhead  downward  to  the  skies."  Dryden. 

3  Cxsonia.  Cf.  Suet.,  Calig.,  50,  "  Creditur  potionatus  a  Csesonia  ux- 
ore,amatorio  quidem  medicamento,  sed  quod  in  furorem  verterit." 


SATIRE  VI. 


89 


declaiming  in  the  deep-mouthed  tones  of  Sophocles^  a  strain 
of  awful  grandeur,  unknown  to  Kutulian  hills  and  Latin 
sky.  Would  that  it  were  but  fable  !  But  Pontia"^  with  loud 
voice  exclaimed,  I  did  the  deed.  I  avow  it !  and  prepared 
for  my  own  children  the  aconite,  which  bears  palpable  evi- 
dence against  me.  StilP  the  act  was  mine!"  "What, 
crudest  of  vipers  !  didst  thou  kill  two  at  one  meal  !  Two, 
didst  thou  slay?' '    ' '  Ay,  seven,  had  there  haply  been  seven  I' ' 

Then  let  us  believe  to  be  true  all  that  tragedians  say  of 
the  fierce  Colchian  or  of  Progne.  I  attempt  not  to  gainsay 
it.  Yet  they  perpetrated  atrocities  that  were  monstrous 
even  in  their  days — but  not  for  the  sake  of  money.  Less 
amazement  is  excited  even  by  the  greatest  enormities,  when- 
ever rage  incites  this  sex  to  crime,  and  with  fury  burning 
up  their  very  liver,  they  are  carried  away  headlong ;  like 
rocks  torn  away  from  cliffs,  from  which  the  mountain-height 
is  reft  away,  and  the  side  recedes  from  the  impending  mass. 

I  can  not  endure  the  woman  that  makes  her  calculations, 
and  in  cold  blood  perpetrates  a  heinous  crime.  They  sit 
and  see  Alcestis*  on  the  stage  encountering  death  for  her 
husband,  and  were  a  similar  exchange  allowed  to  them,  would 
gladly  purchase  a  lap-dog's  life  by  the  sacrifice  of  their  hus- 
band's !  You  will  meet  any  morning  with  Danaides  and 
Eriphylse  in  plenty  ;  not  a  street  but  will  possess  its  Clyta?m- 

1  Grande  Sophocleo. 

"  Are  these  then  fictions  ?  and  would  satire's  rage 
Sweep  in  Iambic  pomp  the  tragic  stage 
With  stately  Sophocles,  and  sing  of  deeds 
Strange  to  Rutulian  skies  and  Latian  meads?"  Badham. 

2  Pontia,  daughter  of  Titus  Pontius,  and  wife  of  Drymis,  poisoned 
her  two  children,  and  afterward  committed  suicide.  The  fact  was 
duly  inscribed  on  her  tomb.    Cf.  Mart,,  vi.,  Ep.  75. 

2  Tamen.   Heinrich  proposes  to  read  "  tantum." 
4  Alcestim. 

*'  Alcestis,  lo !  in  love's  calm  courage  flies. 
To  yonder  tomb  where,  else,  Admetus  dies, 
While  those  that  view  the  scene,  a  lapdog's  breath 
Would  cheaply  purchase  by  a  husband's  death."  Badham, 


JUVENAL. 


nestra.  This  is  the  only  difference,  that  that  famed  daugh- 
ter of  Tyndarus  grasped  in  both  hands  a  bungling,  senseless 
axe.^  But  now  the  business  is  dispatched  with  the  insinuat- 
ing venom  of  a  toad.  But  yet  with  the  steel  too  ;  if  her 
Atrides  has  been  cautious  enough  to  fortify  himself  with  the 
Pontic  antidotes  of  the  thrice-conquered^  king. 


SATIRE  VIL 


ARGUMENT. 

This  Satire  contains  an  animated  account  of  the  general  discourage- 
ment under  which  literature  labored  at  Rome.  Beginning  with 
poetry,  it  proceeds  through  the  various  departments  of  history,  law, 
oratory,  rhetoric,  and  grammar;  interspersing  many  curious  anec- 
dotes, and  enlivening  each  different  head  with  such  satirical,  hu- 
morous, and  sentimental  remarks  as  naturally  flow  from  the  sub- 
ject. 

All  our  hope  and  inducement  to  study^  rests  on  Caesar* 
alone.  For  he  alone  casts  a  favoring  eye^  on  the  Muses,  who 
in  our  days  are  in  a  forlorn  state.  When  poets,  now  become 
famous  and  men  of  renown,  would  fain  try  and  hire  a  little 
bath  at  Gabii,  or  a  public  oven  at  Rome.    While  others, 

1  Tnsulsam. 

"  But  here  the  difference  lies— those  bungling  wives 
With  a  blunt  axe  hack'd  out  their  husbands'  lives."  Giffbrd. 

2  Ter  victi,  by  Sylla,  Lucullus,  and  Pompey.  Cf.  xiv.,  452,  Erne 
quod  Mithridates  Composuit  si  vis  aliam  decerpere  ficum,  Atque  alias 
tractare  rosas." 

3  Ratio  studiorum.  Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  xi.,  7, "  Sublatis  studiorum  pretiis 
etiam  studia  peritura." 

^  Csesare.  Which  Csesar  is  intended  is  a  matter  of  discussion  among 
the  commentators ;  whether  Nero,  Titus,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  Nerva,  or 
Domitian.  Probably  the  last  is  meant  ;  as  in  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  he  affected  the  character  of  a  patron  of  literature. 

5  Rcspexit.  "To  view  with  favor  or  pity,"  as  a  deity :  so  Virg.,Ecl., 
i.,  28,    Libertas,  quae  sera  tamen  respexit  inertem." 


SATIRE  VII. 


9^ 


again,  would  esteem  it  neither  shocking  nor  degrading  to 
turn  public  criers  ;  since  Clio  herself,  if  starving,  would  quit 
the  vales  of  Aganippe,  and  emigrate  to  courts.^  For  if  not 
a  single  farthing  is  offered  you  in  the  Pierian  shades,  be  con- 
tent with  the  name  and  calling  of  Machsera  :^  and  sooner  sell 
what  the  auction  duly  set^  sells  to  those  that  stand  around  ; 
wine-flagons,  trivets,  book-cases,  chests;  the  ^'Alcyone"  of 
Paccius,  or  the  "  Thebes  "  and  Tereus  "  of  Faustus.  This 
is  preferable  to  asserting  before  the  judge  that  you  are  a  wit- 
ness of  what  you  never  did  see.*  Even  though  Asiatic,^  and 
Cappadocian,  and  Bithynian  knights  stoop  to  this  :  fellows 
whom  Gallo-Grsecia  transports  hither  with  chalked  feet.® 
Hereafter,  however,  no  one  will  be  compelled  to  submit  to 
an  employment  derogatory  to  his  studies,  who  unites  lofti- 
ness of  expression  to  tuneful  numbers,  and  has  chewed  the 
bay.^  Set  vigorously  to  work  then,  young  men  !  The  kind- 
ness^ of  the  emperor  is  looking  all  around,  and  stimulates 
your  exertions,  while  he  is  seeking  worthy  objects  of  his  pat- 


1  Atria.  Either  "the  antechambers  of  rich  patrons,"  or  to  ''the 
Licinian  and  other  courts,"  near  the  forUm,  where  auctions  were 
held  ;  the  atria  auctionaria  of  Cicero :  of.  pro  Quint.,  12, 25,  i.  in  Hull.,  7. 

2  Machsera,  a  famous  Prseco  of  his  time.  Lubin. 

3  Commissa.  Either  from  the  goods  being  "  intrusted  "  to  the  auc- 
tioneer by  the  owner  or  the  magistrate ;  or  from  the  parties  that  bid 
being  as  it  were  "  pitted,"  commissi,  against  each  other,  like  gladiators. 

4  Vidi.  So  xvi.,  29,  "  Audeat  ille  Nescio  quis,  pugnos  qui  vidit,  di- 
cere  vidi." 

^  Asiani.  "Jam  equites,  olim  servi  Asiatici."  Lub.  The  next  line 
is  in  all  probability  interpolated,  being  only  a  gloss.  Heinrich. 

6  Nudo  talo.  Vid.  ad  i.,  111.  Or,  it  may  be  "barefooted"  simply. 
Galatia  in  Asia  Minor,  so  called  from  the  colony  of  Gauls  who  set- 
tled there,  a.d.  278,  at  the  invitation  of  Nicomedes.  Liv.,  xxxviii., 
16.  Cf.  Pans.,  Phoc,  xxiii.  Cramer's  Asia  Minor,  ii.,  79.  Clinton, 
Fast.  Hell,  in  an. 

'*  Sent  from  Bithynia's  realms  with  shoeless  feet."  Badham. 

7  Laurumque  momordit.  So  8a<l)vri<l)a.yoi.  The  chewing  of  the  bay,  as 
being  sacred  to  Apollo,  was  supposed  to  convey  divine  inspiration. 
Grang.   Cf.  Lycoph.,  6. 

8  Indvlgentia.  "  Lo !  the  imperial  eye 

Looks  round  attentive  on  each  rising  bard, 

For  worth  to  praise,  for  genius  to  reward."  Gifford. 


92 


JUVENAL. 


ronage.  If  you  think  that  from  any  other  quarter  you  may 
look  for  encouragement  in  your  pursuits,  and  with  that 
view  fill  the  parchment  of  your  yellow^  tablet ;  call  with  all 
speed  for  a  fagot,  and  make  a  present  of  all  your  composi- 
tions, Telesinus,  to  Venus'  husband  -}  or  lock  them  up,  and 
let  the  bookworm^  bore  them  through  as  they  lie  stowed 
away.  Destroy  your  pens,  poor  wretch  !  Blot  out  your 
battles  that  have  lost  you  your  nights'  rest,  you  that  write 
sublime  poetry  in  your  narrow  garret,*  that  you  may  come 
forth  worthy  of  an  ivy -crown  and  meagre  image.  You  have 
nothing  farther  to  hope  for.  The  stingy  patron  of  our  days 
has  learned  only  to  admire  and  praise  the  eloquent  as  boys 
do  Juno's  peacock.^  But  your  prime  of  life  is  ebbing  away; 
that  is  able  to  bear  the  fatigue  of  the  sea,  the  helmet,  or  the 
spade.  Then  weariness  creeps  over  the  spirits  :  and  an  old 
age,  that  is  indeed  learned  but  in  rags,®  curses  itself  and  the 
Muses  that  it  courted.  Now  learn  the  devices  of  the  great 
man  you  pay  court  to,  to  avoid  laying  out  any  money  upon 
you  :  quitting  the  temple  of  the  Muses,  and  Apollo,  he  com- 
poses verses  himself,  and  only  yields  the  palm  to  Homer 
himself  on  the  score  of  his  priority  by  a  thousand  years. 
But  if  inflamed  by  the  charms  of  fame  you  recite  your  poetry, 

1  Crocese.  Because  parchment  is  always  yellow  on  the  side  where 
the  hair  grew.  Others  think  the  parchment  itself  was  dyed  yellow. 
Cf.  Pers.,  iii.,  10. 

2  Veneriis  marito,  a  burlesque  phrase  for    the  fire." 

3  Tinea.   Cf.  Hor.,  Ep.,  I.,  xx.,  12,  "Tineas  pasces  taciturnus  in- 

*  Celld-  So  Ben  Johnson  : 

"  I  that  spend  half  my  nights  and  half  my  days 
Here  in  a  cell,  to  get  a  dark  pale  face, 
To  come  forth  worth  the  ivy  or  the  bays, 
And  in  this  age  can  hope  no  other  grace." 
5  Junonis  avem. 

"  To  praise  and  only  praise  the  high- wrought  strain. 
As  boys  the  bird  of  Juno's  glittering  train."  Gifford. 
®  Facunda  et  unda. 

"  Till  gray-haired,  helpless,  humbled  genius  see 
Its  fault  too  late,  and  curse  Terpsichore."  Badham. 


SATIRE  VII. 


93 


he  kindly  lends  you  a  dirty  mansion,  and  places  at  yenr  ser- 
vice one  that  has  been  long  barred  up,  whose  front  gate  emu- 
lates those  of  a  city  in  a  state  of  siege.  He  knows  how  to 
place  bis  freedmen  in  seats  at  the  farther  end  of  the  audi- 

f nce,  and  how  to  arrange  his  clients  who  are  to  cheer  you 
ustily.  ^  None  of  these  great  lords  will  give  you  as  much  as 
would  pay  for  the  benches,^  or  the  seats  that  rise  one  above 
another  on  the  platform  you  have  to  hire  ;  or  your  orchestra 
of  chairs,  which  must  be  returned  when  your  recitation  is 
over.  Yet  still  we  ply  our  tasks,  and  draw  furrows  in  the 
profitless  dust,  and  keep  turning  up  the  sea-shore  with  sterile 
plow.  For  even  if  you  try  to  abandon  the  pursuit,  the 
long  habit^  of  indulging  in  this  vain-glorious  trifling,*  holds 
you  fast  in  its  fetters.  An  inveterate  itch  of  writing,  now 
incurable,  clings  to  many,  and  grows  old  in  their  distempered 
body.  But  the  poet  that  is  above  his  fellows,  whose  vein  is 
not  that  of  the  common  herd  ;  that  is  wont  to  spin  out  no 


1  Comitum  voces.   Cf.  xiii.,  32,    Vocalis  sportula." 

2  Anahathra,  the  seats  rising  one  above  another  in  the  form  of  a 
theatre.  SubsellicL,  those  in  the  body  of  the  room.  Orchestra,  the 
hired  chairs  in  front  of  all,  for  his  knightly  guests.  Holyday  quaintly 
says  no  patron  cared 

"  What  the  orchestra  cost  raised  for  chief  friends, 
And  chairs  recarried  when  the  reading  ends." 

3  Laqueo.     "  And  would  we  quit  at  length  th'  ambitious  ill, 

The  noose  of  habit  implicates  us  still."  Badham. 

4  Vatem  egregium.  Cf.  Hor.,  i..  Sat.  iv.,  43,  "  Ingenium  cui  sit,  cui 
mens  divinior,  atque  os  magna  sonaturum,  des  nominis  hujus  hono- 
rem."  How  immeasurably  finer  of  the  two  is  Juvenal's  description 
of  a  poet ! 

"But  he,  the  bard  of  every  age  and  clime, 

Of  genius  fruitful,  and  of  soul  sublime. 

Who  from  the  glowing  mint  of  fancy  pours 

No  spurious  metal,  fused  from  common  ores, 

But  gold  to  matchless  purity  refined, 

And  stamp'd  with  all  the  godhead  in  his  mind  : 

He  whom  I  feel,  but  want  the  power  to  paint. 

Must  boast  a  soul  impatient  of  restraint, 

And  free  from  every  care — a  soul  that  loves 

The  Muses'  haunts,  clear  springs  and  shady  groves."  Gifford. 
Of  this  passage,  Hodgson  says,  Gifibrd  has  drawn  the  prize  in  the  lot* 
tery  of  translation,  all  others  must  be  blanks  after  it. 


9^ 


JUVENAL. 


stale  or  vulgar  subject,  and  stamps  no  hackneyed  verse  from 
a  die  that  all  may  use  ;  such  an  one  as  I  can  not  embody  in 
words,  and  can  only  feel  in  my  soul,  is  the  offspring  of  a 
mind  free  from  solicitude,  exempt  from  all  that  can  embitter 
life,  that  courts  the  quiet  of  the  woods,  and  loves  to  drink 
the  fountains  of  the  Aonides.  Nor  can  it  be  that  poverty 
should  sing  in  the  Pierian  cave,  or  handle  the  thyrsus,  if 
forced  to  sobriety,  and  lacking  that  vile  pelf  the  body  needs 
both  day  and  night.  Well  plied  with  food  and  wine  is 
Horace  when  he  shouts  out  his  Evoe  !^  What  scope  is  there 
for  fancy,  save  when  our  breasts  are  harassed  by  no  thoughts 
but  verse  alone  ;  and  are  hurried  along^  under  the  influence 
of  the  lords  of  Cirrha  and  Nysa,  admitting  of  no  divided^ 
solicitude.  It  is  the  privilege  of  an  exalted  soul,  and  not  of 
one  bewildered  how  to  get  enough  to  buy  a  blanket,  to  gaze 
on  chariots  and  horses  and  the  forms  of  divinities,  and  in 
what  dread  shapes  Erinnys*  appals  the  Rutuiian.  For  had 
Virgil  lacked  a  slave  and  comfortable  lodging,  all  the  ser- 
pents would  have  vanished  from  Alecto's  hair  :  his  trumpet, 
starved  to  silence,  would  have  blazed  no  note  of  terror.  Is 
it  fair  to  expect  that  Kubrenus  Lappa  should  not  fall  short 
of  the  buskin  of  the  ancients,  while  his  Atreus^  forces  him  to 
pawn  his  very  sauceboats  and  his  cloak  ? 


1  Evoe!  Vid,  Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  xix.,  5.   Cf.  Milman's  Life. 

2  Feruntur. 

"  Be  hurried  with  resistless  force  along 
By  the  two  kindred  powers  of  wine  and  song."  Gifford. 

3  Duas.   '*  Nor  wrestlings  with  the  world  will  Genius  own, 

Destined  to  strive  with  song,  and  song  alone."  Badham. 

^  Erinnys.  The  splendid  passage  in  the  seventh  ^neid,  445,  seq., 
"Talibus  Alecto  dictis  exarsit  in  iras.  At  juveni  oranti  subitus 
tremor  occupat  artus :  Deriguere  oculi :  tot  Erinnys  sibilat  hydris, 
Tantaque  se  facies  aperit."    Cf.  ^n.,  ii.,  602,  seq. ;  xii.,  326. 

5  Atreus.  Some  take  Atreus  to  be  the  person  who  lends  the  money. 
Grangseus  interprets  it,  Qui  dum  componit  tragsediam  de  Atreo,  ut 
vitam  sustentare  possit  pignori  opponit  alveolos." 

"  Who  writes  his  Atreus,  as  his  friends  allege, 
With  half  his  household  goods  and  cloak  in  pledge."  Badham. 


SATIRE  VII. 


95 


Poor  Numitor  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  nothing  he  can 
afford  to  send  his  protege  !  Yet  he  can  find  something  to 
give  Quintilla — he  managed  to  pay  for  a  tame  lion,  that 
must  have  pounds  of  flesh  to  feed  him.  No  doubt  the  huge 
beast  is  kept  at  far  less  expense  ;  and  a  poet's  stomach  is  far 
more  capacious  !  Let  Lucan  recline  at  his  ease  in  his  gar- 
dens among  his  marble  statues,  satisfied  with  fame  alone. 
But  to  poor  Serranus,  and  starving  Saleius,  of  what  avail 
will  glory  be,  however  great,  if  it  be  glory  only  ?  All  flock 
in  crowds  to  hear  his  sweet  voice,  and  the  tuneful  strains  of 
the  Thebais,  when  Statins^  has  gladdened  the  city,  and  fixed 
the  day  for  reciting  it.  So  great  is  the  charm  with  which 
he  captivates  their  souls  ;  such  the  eager  delight  with  which 
he  is  listened  to  by  the  multitude.  But  when  the  very 
benches  are  broken  down  by  the  ecstasies  with  which  his 
verses  are  applauded,  he  may  starve,  unless  he  sells^  his  un- 
published Agave ''^  to  Paris.  It  is  he  that  bestows  on 
many  the  honors  due  to  military  service,  and  encircles  the 
fingers  of  poets  with  the  ring  that  marks  their  six  months" 
command.*   What  nobles  will  not  give,  a  player  will !  And 

1  Statins  employed  twelve  years  upon  his  Thebais.  (Cf.  xii.,  811.) 
It  was  not  completed  till  after  the  Dacian  war,  but  was  written  before 
the  1st  book  of  the  Silvae,  the  date  of  the  4th  book  of  which  is  known 
to  be  A.D.  95.  We  may  therefore  assume  the  date  of  the  Thebais  to 
be  about  94. 

2  Vendat  Holy  day  quotes  from  Brodseus  the  price  given  to  Terence 
for  his  Eunuchus,  viz.,  eight  sestertia,  about  sixty-five  pounds. 

3  Agave.  Probably  a  pantomimic  ballet  on  a  tragic  subject;  for,  as 
Heinrich  says,  what  had  Paris,  the  mime,  to  do  with  a  new  tragedy? 
These  and  the  following  lines  are  said  to  have  been  the  cause  of  Ju- 
venal's banishment. 

4  Semestri  is  said  to  refer  to  an  honorary  military  commission,  con- 
ferred on  favorites,  even  though  not  in  the  army,  and  called  "Se- 
mestris  tribunatus  militum."  It  lasted  for  six  months  only,  but  con- 
ferred the  privilege  of  wearing  the  equestrian  ring,  with  perhaps 
others.  It  is  alluded  to  in  Pliny,  iv.,  Epist.  4,  who  begs  of  Sossius 
the  consul  in  behalf  of  a  friend,  "  Hunc  rogo  semestri  tribunatu 
splendidiorem  facias."  There  are  divers  other  interpretations,  but 
this  appears  the  simplest  and  most  probable.  To  confound  it  with 
the  "  sestivum  aurum  "  (i.,  28),  is  a  palpable  absurdity. 


I 


96 


JUVENAL. 


dost  tbou,  then,  still  pay  court  to  the  Camerini  and  Bareae, 
and  the  spacious  halls  of  nobles?  It  is  ''Pelopea"  that 
makes  prefects,  ^ '  Philomela ' '  tribunes.  Yet  envy  not  the 
bard  whom  the  stage  maintains.  Who  is  your  Maecenas 
now,  or  Proculeius,  or  Fabius  ?  Who  will  act  Cotta' s  part 
again,  or  be  a  second  Lentulus  ?  In  those  days  talent  had 
its  meet  reward  :  then  it  was  profitable  to  many  to  become 
pale,  and  abstain  from  wine^  the  whole  of  December. 

Your  toil,  forsooth,  ye  writers  of  histories  !  is  more  pro- 
fitable, it  requires  more  time  and  more  oil.  For  regardless 
of  all  limit,  it  rises  to  the  thousandth  page  ;  and  grows  in 
bulk,  expensive  from  the  mass  of  paper  used.  This  the  vast 
press  of  matter  requires,  and  the  laws  of  composition.  Yet 
what  is  the  crop  that  springs  from  it  ?  what  the  profit  from 
the  soil  upturned  ?  W^ho  will  give  an  historian  as  much  as 
he  would  a  notary  ?2  ' '  But  they  are  an  idle  race,  that  de- 
light in  sofas  and  the  cool  shade.  ^'  W^ell,  tell  me  then, 
what  do  the  services  rendered  their  fellow-citizens,  and 
their  briefs  they  carry  about  with  them  in  a  big  bundle, 
bring  in  to  the  lawyers?  Even  of  themselves  they  talk 
grandly  enough,  but  especially  when  their  creditor  is  one  of 
their  hearers  ;  or  if  one  still  more  pressing  nudges  their 
side,  that  comes  with  his  great  account-book  to  sue  for  a 
doubtful  debt.  Then  the  hollow  bellows  of  their  lungs 
breathe  forth  amazing  lies  ;  they  foam  at  the  mouth  till 
their  breast  is  covered.  But  if  you  like  to  calculate  the 
actual  harvest  they  reap,  set  in  one  scale  the  estate  of  a 

1  Vinum  nescire.  Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  iii.,  5,  "At  ipsis  Saturnalibus 
hue  fugisti  Sobrius."  Stat.,  Sylv.,  I.,  vi.,  4,  "Saturnus  mihi  com- 
j>Qde  exsoluta,  et  multo  gravidus  mero  December." 

"  Then  all  December's  revelries  refuse. 
And  give  the  festive  moments  to  the  Muse."  Gifford. 

2  Acta  legeriti.  Either  the  "  notary  public,"  or  "  keeper  of  the  pub- 
lic records."  or  the  historian's  reader,  who  collected  facts  for  the  au- 
thor, or  "  any  one  who  read  aloud  the  history  itself." 


SATIRE  VII. 


97 


hundred  lawyers,  and  you  may  balance  it  on  the  other  side 
with  the  single  fortune  of  Lacerna,  the  charioteer  of  the 


The  chiefs  have  taken  their  seats  !^  You,  like  Ajax,  rise 
with  pallid  cheek,  and  plead  in  behalf  of  liberty  that  has 
been  called  in  question,  before  a  neat-herd^  for  a  juryman  ! 
Burst  your  strained  lungs,  poor  wretch  !  that,  when  ex- 
hausted, the  green  palm-branches*  may  be  affixed  to  crown 
your  staircase  with  honor  !  Yet  what  is  the  reward  of  your 
eloquence  ?  A  rusty  ham,  or  a  dish  of  sprats ;  or  some 
shriveled  onions,  the  monthly  provender  of  the  Africans  f 
or  wine  brought  down  the  Tiber.  Five  bottles^  for  pleading 
four  times  !  If  you  have  been  lucky  enough  to  get  a  single 
gold  piece^,  even  from  that  you  must  deduct  the  stipulated 
shares  of  the  attorneys.  ^  ^milius  will  get  as  much  as  the  law 

1  Eussati.  Cf.  ad  vi., 589.  So  the  charioteer  of  "the  white"  was 
called  Albatus.  Lacerna,  or  Lacerta,  was  a  charioteer  in  the  reign 
of  Domitian,  some  say  of  Domitian  himself.  One  commentator 
takes  Lacerna  to  be  *'  any  soldier  wearing  a  red  cloak ; "  as  Palu- 
datus  is  "  one  wearing  the  general's  cloak."  Cf.  Mart.,  xiii.,  Ep.  78, 
"  Prasinus  Porphyrion." 

-  Consedere.  Cf.  Ov.,  Met.,  xiii.,  1,  "  Consedere  duces;  et,  vulgi 
stante  corona,  Surgit  ad  hos  clypei  dominus  septemplicis  Ajax;"  Cf. 
ad  xi.,  30. 

3  Bubulco.  "  Before  some  clod-pate  judge  thy  vitals  strain."  Bad- 
ham. 

4  Palmse.   Cf.  ad  ix.,  85. 

"  So  shall  the  verdant  palm  be  duly  tied 
To  the  dark  staircase  where  such  powers  reside."  Badham. 

5  Afrorum  Epimenia.  Most  probably  alluding  to  the  "monthly  ra- 
tions of  onions"  allowed  to  African  slaves,  who  were  accustomed  to 
plenty  of  them  in  their  own  country  (cf.  Herod.,  ii.,  125.  Numb.,  xi., 
5),  where  they  grew  in  great  abundance.  Martial,  ix.,  Ep.  xlvi.,  11, 
enumerates  "  bulbi "  among  the  presents  sent  at  the  Saturnalia  to  the 
causidicus  Sabellus. 

^  Lagense.  Mart.,  u.  s.  "Five  jars  of  meagre  down-the-Tiber 
wine."  Badham. 

Aureus.  About  sixteen  shillings  English  at  this  time. 
8  Pragmatico7'um.  Cicero  describes  their  occupation,  de  Orat.,  i.. 
45,  "  Ut  apud  Grsecos  infimi  homines,  mercedula  adducti,  ministros 
se  prsebent  judiciis  oratoribus  ii  qui  apud  illos  itpayixaTtKot  vocantur."^ 
Cf  c.  59.  Quintil.,  iii.,  6  ;  xii.,  3.  Mart.,  xii.,  Ep.  72.  They  appear 
afterward  to  have  been  introduced  at  Rome,  and  are  sometimes 
called  "  Tabelliones." 


Red.  I 


5 


98 


JUVENAL. 


allows  ;i  although  we  pleaded  better  than  he.  For  he  has 
in  his  court-yard  a  chariot  of  bronze  with  four  tall  horses^ 
yoked  to  it;  and  he  himself,  seated  on  his  fierce  charger, 
brandishes  aloft  his  bending  spear,  and  meditates  battle  with 
his  one  eye  closed.  So  it  is  that  Pedo  gets  involved,  Matho 
fails.  This  is  the  end  of  Tongillus,  who  usually  bathes  with^ 
a  huge  rhinoceros'  horn  of  oil,  and  annoys  the  baths  with 
his  draggled  train  ;  and  weighs  heavily  in  his  ponderous  se- 
dan on  his  sturdy  Median  slaves,  as  he  presses  through  the 
forum  to  bid  for^  slaves,  and  plate,  and  myrrhine  vases,  and 
villas.  For  it  is  his  foreign*  purple  with  its  Tyrian  tissue 
that  gets  him  credit.  And  yet  this  answers  their  purpose. 
It  is  the  purple  robe  that  gets  the  lawyer  custom — his  violet 
cloaks  that  attract  clients.  It  suits  their  interest  to  live 
with  all  the  bustle  and  outward  show  of  an  income  greater 
than  they  really  have.  But  prodigal  Rome  observes  no 
bounds  to  her  extravagance.  If  the  old  orators  were  to 
come  to  life  again,  no  one  now  would  give  even  Cicero  him- 

1  Licet.  The  Lex  Cincia  de  Muneribus,  as  amended  by  Augustus, 
forbade  the  receipt  of  any  fees.  A  law  of  Nero  fixed  the  fee  at  100 
aurei  at  niost.  Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  xi.,  5  (Ruperti's  note).  Suet.,  Ner., 
17.    P]in.,  v.,  Ep.  iv.,  21. 

2  Quadrijuges.  It  appears  to  have  been  an  extraordinary  fancy 
with  lawyers  of  this  age  to  be  represented  in  this  manner ;  cf.  Mart., 
ix.,  Ep.  Ixix.,  5,  seq;  but  the  details  of  the  picture  have  puzzled  the 
commentators.  "'Curvatum"  is  supposed  to  mean  that  "the  spear 
actually  seems  quivering  in  his  hand,"  or  that  it  is  "bent  with  age," 
or  that  the  arm  is  "  bent  back,"  as  if  in  the  act  of  throwing.  Cf.  Xen., 
Anab.,  V.,  ii.,  12,  fitr^y/cvAwjaevovs.  "  Luscd  "  may  imply  that  the  statue 
imitated  to  the  life  the  personal  defect  of  ^milius;  or  simply  the 
absence  of  the  pupil  {bixixdruiv  dx'^'^''^)^  inseparable  from  statuary  ;  or 
that  ^milius  is  represented  as  closing  one  eye  to  take  better  aim. 

"  Lifts  his  poised  javelin  o'er  the  crowd  below, 
And  from  his  blmking  statue  threats  the  blow."  Hodgson. 

3  Cf.  Mart,  ix.,  Ep.  60. 

4  Stlataria.  Stlata  is  said  to  be  an  old  form  of  lata,  as  stlis  for  lis^ 
stlocus  for  locus.  Therefore  Stlataria  is  the  same  as  the  "  Latus  Cla- 
vus,"  according  to  some  commentators;  or  a  "broad-beamed"  mer- 
chant ship ;  and  therefore  means  simply  "  imported."  Others  say  it 
is  a  "piratical  ship,"  such  as  the  Illyrians  used,  and  the  word  is  then 
taken  to  imply  "  deceitful."  Facciolati  explains  it  by  *'  peregrina  et 
pretiosa  :  longe  nayi  advecta." 


SATIRE  VII. 


99 


self  two  hundred  sesterces,  unless  a  huge  ring  sparkled  on 
his  finger.  This  is  the  first  point  he  that  goes  to  law  looks 
to — whether  you  have  eight  slaves,  ten  attendants,  a  sedan 
to  follow  you,  and  friends  in  toga  to  go  before.  Paulus, 
consequently,  used  to  plead  in  a  sardonyx,  hired  for  the 
occasion  :  and  hence  it  was  that  Cossus'  fees  were  higher  than 
those  of  Basilus.  Eloquence  is  a  rare  quality  in  a  thread- 
bare coat ! 

When  is  Basilus  allowed  to  produce  in  court  a  weeping 
mother  ?  Who  could  endure  Basilus,  however  well  he  w^ere 
to  plead  ?  Let  Gaul  become  your  home,  or  better  still  that 
foster-nurse  of  pleaders,  Africa,  if  you  are  determined  to  let 
your  tongue  for  hire. 

Do  you  teach  declamation  ?  Oh  what  a  heart  of  steel  must 
Vectius  have,  when  his  numerous  class  kills  cruel  tyrants  ! 
For  all  that  the  boy  has  just  conned  over  at  his  seat,  he  will 
then  stand  up  and  spout — the  same  stale  theme  in  the  same 
sing-song.  It  is  the  reproduction  of  the  cabbage^  that  wears 
out  the  master's  life.  What  is  the  plea  to  be  urged  :  what 
the  character  of  the  cause  ;  where  the  main  point  of  the  case 
hinges  ;  what  shafts  may  issue  from  the  opposing  party  ; — 
this  all  are  anxious  to  know  ;  but  not  one  is  anxious  to  pay  ! 
' '  Pay  do  you  ask  for  ?  why,  what  do  I  know  ?' '  The  blame, 
forsooth,  is  laid  at  the  teacher's  door,  because  there  is  not  a 
spark  of  energy  in  the  breast  of  this  scion  of  Arcadia,^  who 
dins  his  awful  Hannibal  into  my  ears  regularly  every  sixth 
day.    Whatever  the  theme  be  that  is  to  be  the  subject  of  his 

1  Crambe.  The  old  Schol.  quotes  a  proverb— 51?  Kpa.fx^y\  ^avarog, 
Orangseus  another,  which  forcibly  expresses  a  schoolmaster's  drudg- 
ery— oi  auTOt  Trepi  rdv  avTutv  TOiq  avTolg  to.  avrd. 

"  Till,  like  hash'd  cabbage,  served  for  each  repast, 
The  repetition  kills  the  wretch  at  last."  Giflford. 

2  Arcadia  was  celebrated  for  its  breed  of  asses.  Cf.  Pers.,  Sat.  ili., 
"Arcadise  pecuaria  rudere  credas."   Auson.,  Epigr.  76,  "Asinos 

quoque  rudere  dicas,  cum  vis  Arcadium  fingere,  Marce,  pecus." 

♦ 


lOO 


JUVENAL. 


deliberation  ;  whether  he  shall  march  at  once  from  Cannae 
on  Kome  ;  or  whether,  rendered  circumspect  after  the  storms 
and  thunderbolts,  he  shall  lead  his  cohorts,  drenched  with 
the  tempest,  by  a  circuitous  route.  Bargain^  for  any  sum 
you  please,  and  I  will  at  once  place  it  in  your  hands,  on  con- 
dition that  his  father  should  hear  him  his  lesson  as  often  as 
I  have  to  do  it !  But  six  or  more  sophists  are  all  giving 
tongue  at  once  ;  and,  debating  in  good  earnest,  have  aban- 
doned all  fictitious  declamations  about  the  ravisher.  No 
more  is  heard  of  the  poison  infused,  or  the  vile  ungrateful 
husband, 2  or  the  drugs  that  can  restore  the  aged  blind  to 
youth.  He  therefore  that  quits  the  shadowy  conflicts  of 
rhetoric  for  the  arena  of  real  debate,  will  superannuate 
himself,  if  my  advice  has  any  weight  with  him,  and  enter 
on  a  different  path  of  life  ;  that  he  may  not  lose  even  the 
paltry  sum  that  will  purchase  the  miserable  ticket^  for  corn. 
Since  this  is  the  most  splendid  reward  you  can  expect.  Just 
inquire  what  Chrysogonus  receives,  or  Pollio,  for  teaching 
the  sons  of  these  fine  gentlemen,  and  going  into  all  the  de- 
tails* of  Theodorus'  treatise. 


^  Stipulare.     Get  me  his  father  but  to  hear  his  task 

For  one  short  week,  I'll  give  you  all  you  ask."  Bad. 

2  Mauritus.   *'  The  faithless  husband  and  abandon'd  wife, 

And  ^son  coddled  to  new  light  and  life."  Gififord. 

3  Tessera.  The  poorer  Romans  received  every  month  tickets,  which 
appear  to  have  been  transferable,  entitling  them  to  a  certain  quantity 
of  corn  from  the  public  granaries.  These  tesserae  or  symbola  were 
made,  Lubinus  says,  of  wood  or  lead,  and  distributed  by  the  Fru- 
mentorum  Curatores."  In  the  latter  days,  bread  thus  distributed  was 
called  "  Panis  Gradilis,"  quia  gradibus  distribuebatur.  The  Congia- 
rium  consisted  of  wine,  or  oil  only.  The  Donativum  was  only  given 
to  soldiers.  Several  of  these  tickets  of  wood  and  lead  are  preserved 
in  the  museum  at  Portici. 

4  Scindens.  "  Prsecepta  ejus  artis  minutatim  dividens."  Lubin.  On 
the  principle  perhaps,  that  "  Qui  bene  dividit  bene  docet."  Britan- 
nicus,  whom  Heinrich  follows,  explains  it  by  "  deridet."  Theodorus 
of  Gadara  was  a  professor  of  rhetoric  in  the  reigns  of  Augustus  and 
Tiberius.  Vid.  Suet,,  Tib.,  57.  It  was  he  who  so  well  described  the 
character  of  the  latter;  calling  him  nriXov  aVan  Tr€(})vpiJi€vov.  Chrys- 
ogonus, in  vi.,  74,  is  a  singer,  and  Pollio,  vi.,  387,  a  musician  (cf. 


SATIRE  VII. 


lOI 


The  baths  will  cost  six  hundred  sestertia,  and  the  colon- 
nade still  more,  in  which  the  great  man  rides  whenever  it 
rains.  Is  he  to  wait,  forsooth,  for  fair  weather  ?  or  bespatter 
his  horses  with  fresh  mud  ?  Nay,  far  better  here  !  for  here 
the  mule's  hoof  shines  unsullied.^  On  the  other  side  must 
rise  a  spacious  dining-room,  supported  on  stately  columns 
of  Numidian  mailjle,  and  catch  the  cooP  sun.  However 
much  the  house  may  have  cost,  he  will  have  besides  an 
artiste  who  can  arrange  his  table  scientifically  ;  another,  who 
can  season  made-dishes.  Yet  amid  all  this  lavish  expendi- 
ture, two  poor  sestertia  will  be  deemed  an  ample  remunera- 
tion for  Quintilian.  Nothing  will  cost  a  father  less  than  his 
son's  education. 

' '  Then  where  did  Quintilian  get  the  money  to  pay  for  so 
many  estates?"  Pass  by  the  instances  of  good  fortune  that 
are  but  rare  indeed.  It  is  good  luck  that  makes  a  man  hand- 
some and  active  ;  good  luck  that  makes  him  wise,  and  noble, 
and  well-bred,  and  attaches  the  crescent^  of  the  senator  to 
his  black  shoe.  Good  luck  too  that  makes  him  the  best  of 
orators  and  debaters,  and,  though  he  has  a  vile  cold,  sing 

Mart.,  iv.,  Ep.  Ixi.,  9);  but,  as  Lubinus  says,  the  persons  mentioned 
here  are  professors  of  rhetoric,  and  p/robably  therefore  not  the  same. 

1  Munax. 

"  He  splash  his  fav'rite  mule  in  filthy  roads  ! 
With  ample  space  at  his  command,  to  tire 

The  well-groom'd  beast,  with  hoof  unstain'd  by  mire."  Badham. 

2  Algentem.  They  had  dining-rooms  facing  different  quarters,  ac- 
cording to  the  season  of  the  year,  with  a  southern  aspect  for  the 
winter,  and  an  eastern  for  the  summer.  Cf.  Plin.,  ii.,  Ep.  17.  Eapiat 
rather  seems  to  imply  the  former  case.   So  Badham— 

"  Courts  the  brief  radiance  of  the  winter's  noon." 
"Algentem"  favors  the  other  view — 

"  Front  the  cool  east,  when  now  the  averted  sun 
Through  the  mid  ardors  of  his  course  has  run."  Hodgson. 

3  Lunam.  Senators  wore  black  shoes  of  tanned  leather :  they  were 
a  kind  of  short  boot  reaching  to  the  middle  of  the  leg  (hence, 
"Nigris  medium  impediit  crus  pellibus,"  Hor.,  I,,  Sat.  vi.,  27),  with  a 
ctescent  or  the  letter  C  in  front,  because  the  original  number  of 
senators  was  a  hundred— Aluia,  "steeped  in  alum,"  to  soften  the 
skin. 


102 


JUVENAL. 


well !  For  it  makes  all  the  difference  what  planets  welcome 
you  when  you  first  begin  to  utter  your  infant  cry,  and  are 
still  red  from  your  mother.  If  fortune  so  wills  it,  you  will 
become  consul  instead  of  rhetorician  ;  or,  if  she  will,  instead 
of  rhetorician,  consul !  What  was  Ventidius^  or  Tullius 
aught  else  than  a  lucky  planet,  and  the  strange  potency  of 
hidden  fate  ?  Fate,  that  gives  kingdoms  to  slaves,  and  tri- 
umphs to  captives.  Yes  !  Quintilian  was  indeed  lucky,  but 
he  is  a  greater  rarity  even  than  a  white  crow.  But  many  a 
man  has  repented  of  this  fruitless  and  barren  employment, 
as  the  sad  end  of  Thrasymachus^  proves,  and  that  of  Secun- 
dus  Carrinas.^  And  you,  too,  Athens,  were  witness  to  the 
poverty  of  him  on  whom  you  had  the  heart  to  bestow  noth- 
ing save  the  hemlock  that  chilled*  his  life-blood  ! 

Light  be  the  earth,  ye  gods  !^  and  void  of  weight,  that 
presses  on  our  grandsires'  shades,  and  round  their  urn  bloom 
fragrant  crocus  and  eternal  spring,  who  maintained  that  a 
tutor  should  hold  the  place  and  honor  of  a  revered  parent. 
Achilles  sang  on  his  paternal  hills,  in  terror  of  the  lash,  though 


1  Ventidius  Bassus,  son  of  a  slave ;  first  a  carman,  then  a  muleteer ; 
afterward  made  in  one  year  praetor  and  consul.  Being  appointed  to 
command  against  the  Parthians,  he  was  allowed  a  triumph  ;  having 
been  himself,  in  his  youth,  led  as  a  captive  in  the  triumphal  proces- 
sion of  Pompey's  father.   Cf.  Val,  Max.,  vi.,  10. 

2  Thrasymachus  of  Chalcedon,  the  pupil  of  Plato  and  Isocrates, 
wrote  a  treatise  on  Rhetoric,  and  set  up  as  a  teacher  of  it  at  Athens  ; 
but,  meeting  with  no  encouragement,  shut  up  his  school  and  hanged 
himself. 

3  Secundus  Carrinas  is  said  to  have  been  driven  by  poverty  from 
Athens  to  Rome  ;  and  was  banished  by  Caligula  for  a  declamation 
against  tyrants.   He  is  mentioned,  Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,  45. 

4  Oelidas.  "  Cicutse  refrigeratoria  vis :  quos  enecat  incipiunt  algere 
ab  extremitatibus  corporis."  Plin.,  xxv.,  13.  Plat.,  Phsedo,  fin. 
Pers.,  iv.,  1. 

5  Bii  Majorum,  etc. 

"  Shades  of  our  sires !   O  sacred  be  your  rest, 
And  lightly  lie  the  turf  upon  your  breast ; 
Flowers  round  your  urns  breathe  sweets  beyond  compare, 
And  spring  eternal  bloom  and  flourish  there  ! 
Your  honor'd  tutors,  now  a  slighted  race. 
And  gave  them  all  a  parent's  power  and  place !"  GiflFord. 


SATIRE  VII. 


103 


now  grown  up ;  and  yet  in  whom  even  then  would  not  the  tail 
of  his  master,  the  harper,  provoke  a  smile  ?  But  now  Rufus^ 
and  others  are  beaten  each  by  their  own  pupils  ;  Rufus  ! 
who  so  often  called  Cicero  ''the  Allobrogian  !"  Who  casts 
into  Enceladus'2  lap,  or  that  of  the  learned  Palaemon,'^  as 
much  as  their  grammarian  labors  have  merited  !  And  yet 
even  from  the  wretched  sum,  however  small  (and  it  is 
smaller  than  the  rhetorician's  pay),  Acse  nonoetus,  his  pupil's 
pedagogue,  first  takes  his  slice  ;  and  then  the  steward  who 
pays  you  deducts  his  fragment.  Dispute  it  not,  Palsemon  ! 
and  suffer  some  abatement  to  be  made,  just  as  the  peddler 
does  that  deals  in  winter  rugs  and  snow-white  sheetings.* 
Only  let  not  all  be  lost,''  for  which  you  have  sat  from  the 
midnight  hour,  when  no  smith  would  sit,  nor  even  he  that 
teaches  how  to  draw  out  wool  with  the  oblique  iron.  Lose 
not  your  whole  reward  for  having  smelled  as  many  lamps 
as  there  were  boys  standing  round  you  ;  while  Horace  was 
altogether  discolored,  and  the  foul  smut  clave  to  the  well- 
thumbed  Maro.  Yet  rare  too  is  the  pay  that  does  not  re- 
quire enforcing  by  the  Tribune's  court. ^ 

But  do  you,  parents,  impose  severe  exactions  on  him  that 
is  to  teach  your  boys  ;  that  he  be  perfect  in  the  rules  of 
grammar  for  each  word — read  all  histories^ — know  all  authors 


^  Evfus,  according  to  the  old  Schol.,  was  a  native  of  Gaul.  Gran- 
gseus  calls  him  Q,  Curtius  Rufus,  and  says  nothing  more  is  known  of 
him  than  that  he  was  an  eminent  rhetorician.  He  is  here  repre- 
sented as  charging  Cicero  with  barbarisms  or  provincialisms,  such  as 
a  Savoyard  would  use. 

2  Enceladus.    Nothing  is  known  of  him. 

3  Palsemon.  Vid.  ad  vi.,  451.  ^  Cadurci.  Cf.  vi.,  537. 
&  Nonpereai. 

"Yes,  suffer  this !  while  something's  left  to  pay 
Your  rising,  hours  before  the  dawn  of  day  ; 
When  e'en  the  lab'ring  poor  their  slumbers  take. 
And  not  a  weaver,  not  a  smith's  awake."  Gifford. 

6  Cognitione  Trihuni,  Not  a  tribune  of  the  people,  but  one  of  the 
Tribuni  ^Erarii,  to  whom  the  cognizance  of  such  complaints  belonged. 

7  Historias.    Tiberius  was  exceedingly  fond  of  propounding  to 


I04 


JUVENAL. 


as  well  as  his  own  finger-ends  ;  that  if  questioned  at  hazard, 
while  on  his  way  to  the  Thermae  or  the  baths  of  Phoebus,  he 
should  be  able  to  tell  the  name  of  Anchises'  nurse\  and  the 
name  and  native  land  of  the  step-mother  of  Anchemolus — 
tell  off-hand  how  many  years  Acestes  lived— how  many* 
flagons  of  wine  the  Sicilian  king  gave  to  the  Phrygians. 
Require  of  him  that  he  mould  their  youthful  morals  as  one 
models  a  face  in  wax.  Require  of  him  that  he  be  the  rev- 
erend father  of  the  company,  and  check  every  approach  to 
immorality. 

It  is  no  light  task  to  keep  watch  over  so  many  boyish 
hands,  so  many  little  twinkling  eyes.  ^'This,''  says  the 
father,  ''be  the  object  of  your  care!" — and  when  the  year 
comes  round  again,  Receive  for  your  pay  as  much  gold^  as 
the  people  demand  for  the  victorious  Charioteer  ! 

grammarians,  a  class  of  men  whom  he  particularly  affected  (quod 
genus  hominum  prsecipue  appetebat),  questions  of  this  nature,  to 
sound  their  "  notitia  historiae  usque  ad  ineptias  atque  derisum."  Cf. 
Suet.,  Tib.,  70,  57. 

1  Nutricem.  The  names  of  these  two  persons  are  said  to  have  been 
Casperia  and  Tisiphone. 

2  Aurum.  I.e.,  5  aurei,  the  highest  reward  allowed  to  be  given.  The 
aureus,  which  varied  in  value,  was  at  this  time  worth  25  denarii ;  a 
little  more  than  16  shillings  English.  Cf.  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  Ixxiv.,  5. 


SATIRE  VIII. 


105 


SATIRE  VIII. 


ARGUMENT. 

Juvenal  demonstrates,  in  this  Satire,  that  distinction  is  merely  per- 
sonal ;  that  though  we  may  derive  rank  and  titles  from  our  ances- 
tors, yet  if  we  degenerate  from  the  virtues  by  which  they  obtained 
them,  we  can  not  be  considered  truly  noble.  This  is  the  main  ob- 
ject of  the  Satire ;  which,  however,  branches  out  into  many  col- 
lateral topics— the  profligacy  of  the  young  nobility  ;  the  miserable 
state  of  the  provinces,  which  they  plundered  and  harassed  with- 
out mercy ;  the  contrast  between  the  state  of  debasement  to  which 
the  descendants  of  the  best  families  had  sunk,  and  the  opposite 
virtues  to  be  found  in  persons  of  the  lowest  station  and  humblest 
descent. 


What  is  the  use  of  pedigrees?^  What  boots  it,  Pontic  us, 
to  be  accounted  of  an  ancient  line,  and  to  display  the  painted 
faces^  of  your  ancestors,  and  the  ^miliani  standing  in  their 
cars,  and  the  Curii  diminished  to  one  half  their  bulk,  and 
Corvinus  deficient  of  a  shoulder,  and  Galba  that  has  lost  his 
ears  and  nose^ — what  profit  is  it  to  vaunt  in  your  capacious 
genealogy  of  Corvinus,  and  in  many  a  collateral  line*  to  trace 
dictators  and  masters  of  the  horse  begrimed  with  smoke,  if 
before  the  very  faces  of  the  Lepidi  you  lead  an  evil  life  !  To 
what  purpose  are  the  images  of  so  many  warriors,  if  the  dice- 
box  rattles  all  night  long  in  the  presence  of  the  Numantini  :* 


1  Stemmata.  "  The  lines  connecting  the  descents  in  a  pedigree," 
from  the  garlands  of  flowers  round  the  Imagines  set  up  in  the  halls 
(v.,  19)  and  porticoes  (vi.,  163)  of  the  nobles;  which  were  joined  to 
one  another  by  festoons,  so  that  the  descent  from  father  to  son  could 
be  readily  traced.  Cf.  Pers.,  iii.,  28.  "  Stemmate  quod  Tusco  ramum 
millesime  ducis."    Of  Ponticus  nothing  is  known. 

2  ViUtus.  Because  these  Imagines  were  simply  busts  made  of  wax, 
colored. 

3  Virgd. 

"  V^hat  boots  it  on  the  lineal  tree  to  trace 
Through  many  a  branch  the  founders  of  our  race."  Giflford. 

4  Numantinos.  Scipio  Africanus  the  Younger  got  the  name  of  Nu- 
mantinus  from  Numantia,  which  he  destroyed  as  well  as  Carthage. 

5* 


io6 


JUVENAL. 


if  you  retire  to  rest  at  the  rising  of  that  star^  at  whose 
dawning  those  generals  set  their  standards  and  camps  in 
motion  ?  Why  does  Fabius^  plume  himself  on  the  Allobro- 
gici  and  the  Great  Altar, as  one  born  in  Hercules'  own 
household,  if  he  is  covetous,  empty-headed,  and  ever  so 
much  more  effeminate  than  the  soft  lamb  of  Euganea."^  If 
with  tender  limbs  made  sleek  by  the  pumice*  of  Catana  he 
shames  his  rugged  sires,  and,  a  purchaser  of  poison,  dis- 
graces his  dishonored  race  by  his  image  that  ought  to  be 
broken  up.^ 

Though  your  long  line  of  ancient  statues  adorn  your  am- 
ple halls  on  every  side,  the  sole  and  only  real  nobility  is 
virtue.    Be  a  Paulus,®  or  Cossus,  or  Drusus,  in  moral  char- 

1  Ortu. 

"  Just  at  the  hour  when  those  whose  name  you  boast 
Broke  up  the  camp,  and  march'd  th'  embattled  host."  Hodgson. 

2  Fabius,  the  founder  of  the  Fabian  gens,  was  said  to  have  been  a 
son  of  Hercules  by  Vinduna,  daughter  of  Evander,  and  by  virtue  of 
this  descent  the  Fabii  claimed  the  exclusive  right  of  ministering  at 
the  altar  consecrated  by  Evander  to  Hercules.  It  stood  in  the  Forum 
Boarium,  near  the  Circus  Flaminius,  and  was  called  Ara  Maxima, 
Cf.  Ovid.,  Fast.,  i.,  581,  "  Constituique  sibi  quae  Maxima  dicitur^ 
Aram,  Hie  ubi  pars  urbis  de  bove  nomen  habet."    Cf.  Virg.,  ^n., 

viii.  ,  271,  "  Hanc  aram  luco  statuit  quae  Maxima  semper  dicetur  no« 
bis,  et  erit  quse  Maxima  semper."  Quintus  Fabius  Maximus  Emilia- 
nus,  the  consul  in  the  year  b.c.  121,  defeated  the  Allobroges  at  the 
junction  of  the  Isere  and  the  Rhone,  and  killed  130,000  :  for  which 
he  received  the  name  of  Allobrogicus.   Cf.  Liv.,  Ep.  61.   Veil.,  ii.,  16, 

3  Euganea,  a  district  of  Northern  Italy,  on  the  confines  of  the  Vene- 
tian territory. 

4  Pumice.  The  pumice  found  at  Catana,  now  Catania,  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  ^tna,  was  used  to  rub  the  body  with  to  make  it  smooth  (cf. 

ix.  ,95,  "Inimicus  pumice  Isevis."  Plin.,  xxxvi.,  21.  Ovid,  A.  Am., 
i.,  506,  "  Nec  tua  mordaci  pumice  crura  teras  "),  after  the  hairs  had 
been  got  rid  of  by  the  resin.  Vid.  inf.,  lU—Traducit  Vid.  ad  xi., 
31. 

5  Frangendd.  The  busts  of  great  criminals  were  broken  by  the  com- 
mon executioner.  Cf.  x.,  58,  "  Descendunt  statute  restemque  sequun- 
tur."  Tac,  Ann.,  vi.,  2,  "Atroces  sententise  dicebantur  in  effigies." 
C£  Ruperti,  ad  Tac,  Ann.,  ii.,  32.    Suet.,  Domit.,  23. 

"He  blast  his  wretched  kindred  with  a  bust. 
For  public  Justice  to  reduce  to  dust."  Gififord. 
^  Paulus.   He  mentions  (Sat.  vii.,  143)  two  lawyers,  bearing  the 
names  of  Paulus  and  Cossus,  who  were  apparently  no  honor  to  their 
great  names.   (For  Cossus,  cf.  inf.  Gsetulice.) 


SATIRE  VIII. 


107 


acter.  Set  that  before  the  images  of  your  ancestors.  Let 
that,  when  your  are  consul,  take  precedence  of  the  fasces 
themselves.  What  I  claim  from  you  first  is  the  noble  quali- 
ties of  the  mind.  If  you  deserve  indeed  to  be  accounted  a 
man  of  blameless  integrity,  and  stanch  love  of  justice,  both 
in  worS  and  deed,  then  I  recognize  the  real  nobleman.  All 
hail,  Gsetulicus  !i  or  thou,  Silanus,^  or  from  whatever  other 
blood  descended,  a  rare  and  illustrious  citizen,  thou  fallest 
to  the  lot  of  thy  rejoicing  country.  Then  we  may  exultingly 
shout  out  what  the  people  exclaim  when  Osiris  is  found. ^ 

For  who  would  call  him  noble  that  is  unworthy  of  his 
race,  and  distinguished  only  for  his  illustrious  name?  We 
call  some  one's  dwarf/  Atlas  ;  a  negro,  swan  ;  a  diminutive 
and  deformed  wench,  Europa.  Lazy  curs  scabbed^  with  in- 
veterate mange,  that  lick  the  edges  of  the  lamp  now  dry,  will 
get  the  name  of  Leopard,  Tiger,  Lion,  or  whatever  other 
beast  there  is  on  earth  that  roars  with  fiercer  throat.  There- 
fore you  will  take  care  and  begin  to  fear  lest  it  is  upon  the 
same  principle  you  are  a  Creticus^  or  Camerinus. 

1  Oastulice.  Cn.  Cornelius  Lentulus  Cossus  received  the  name  of 
Gsetulicus  from  his  victory  over  the  Gsetuli,  "  Auspice  Augusto,"  in 
his  consulship  with  L.  Calpurnius  Piso  Augur.  B.C.  1.  Vid.  Clinton, 
F.  H.,  inan.    Flor.,  iv.,  12. 

2  Silanus.  The  son-in-law  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  who,  as  Taci- 
tus says  (Ann.,  xvi.,  7),  "Claritudine  generis,  and  modesta  juventa 
praecellebat."    Cf.  Ann.,  xii.   Suet.,  Claud.,  27, 

"  Hail  from  whatever  stock  you  draw  your  birth, 
The  son  of  Cossus,  or  the  son  of  earth."  Gilford. 

3  Osiri  invento.    Vid.  ad  vi.,  533. 

4  Namum  cujusdam.  There  is  probably  an  allusion  here  to  Domi- 
tian's  fondness  for  these  deformities.  Cf.  Domit.,  iv.,  "Per  omne 
spectaculum  ante  pedes  ei  stabat  puerulus  coccinatus,  pravo  porten- 
tosoque  capite,  cum  quo  plurimum  fabulabatur."  Cf.  Stat.,  i. ;  vi,,  57, 
seq, 

6  Scobie.    "That  mangy  larcenist  of  casual  spoil. 

From  lamps  extinct  that  licks  the  fetid  oil."  Badham. 

6  Creticus.  Q.  Metellus  had  this  surname  from  his  conquest  of 
Crete,  B.C.  67.  Veil.  Pat.,  ii.,  34.  Flor.,  iii.,  7.  Cf  ii.,  78,  "Cretice 
pelluces."  P.  Sulpicius  Camerinus  was  one  of  the  triumvirs  sent  to 
Athens  for  Solon's  laws.  Cf.  vii,,  90.  Liv.,  iii.,  38.  Camerinus  was 
a  name  of  the  Sulpician  gens,  and  seems  to  have  been  derived  from 


io8 


JUVENAL. 


Whom  have  I  admonished  in  these  words  ?  To  you  my 
words  are  addressed,  Rubellius^  Plaiitus  !  You  are  puffed 
up  with  your  descent  from  the  Drusi,  just  as  though  you  had 
yourself  achieved  something  to  deserve  being  ennobled  ; 
and  she  that  gave  you  birth  should  be  of  the  brilliant  blood 
of  lulus,  and  not  the  drudge  that  weaves  for  hire  beneath 
the  shelter  of  the  windy  rampart.^  You  are  the  lower  or- 
ders ! he  says  ;  *^the  very  dregs  of  our  populace  !  Not  a 
man  of  you  could  tell  where  his  father  was  born  !  But  I 
am  a  Cecropid  ! Long  may  you  live  !^  and  long  revel  in 
the  joys  of  such  a  descent !  Yet  from  the  lowest  of  this 
common  herd  you  will  find  one  that  is  indeed  an  eloquent 
Koman.  It  is  he  that  usually  pleads  the  cause  of  the  igno- 
rant noble."  From  the  toga'd  crowd  will  come  one  that  can 
solve  the  knotty  points  of  law,  and  the  enigmas  of  the  stat- 
utes. He  it  is  that  in  his  prime  carves  out  his  fortune  with 
his  sword,  and  goes  to  Euphrates,  and  the  legions  that  keep 
guard  over  the  conquered  Batavi.  While  you  are  nothing 
but  a  Cecropid,  and  most  like  the  shapeless  pillar  crowned 
with  Hermes^  head.  Since  in  no  other  point  of  difference 
have  you  the  advantage  save  in  this — that  his  head  is  of 


the  conquest  of  Cameria  in  Latium.  (Cf.  Facciol.)  Liv.,  i.,  38.  The 
nailie  of  Creiicus  was  actually  given  in  derision  to  M.  Antonius, 
father  of  the  triumvir,  for  his  disastrous  failure  in  Crete.  Vid.  Plut. 
in  Ant. 

1  RiLbellius  Bland  us  was  the  father,  Plautus  the  son.  Both  read- 
ings are  found  here.  Of  the  latter  Tacitus  says  (Ann.,  xiv.,  22),  *'  Om- 
nium ore  Rubellius  Plautus  celebrabatur,  cut  nohilitas  per  matrem  ex 
Julia familid."  His  mother  Julia  was  daughter  of  Drusus,  the  son  of 
Llvia,  wife  of  Augustus.  Germanicus,  his  mother's  brother,  was 
father  of  Agrippina,  mother  of  Nero:  hence,  inf.  72,  inflatum  ple- 
numque  Nerone  propinquo."  Cf.  Virg.,  Mn.,  i.,  288,  "  Julius  a  magno 
demissum  nomen  Julo." 

^  Aggere.    Cf.  ad  vi. ,  588. 

3  Vivas.      Long  may'st  thou  taste  the  secret  sweets  that  spring 

In  breasts  affined  to  so  remote  a  king."  Gifford. 

4  Nobilis  indocti. 

"  Wh6  help  the  well-born  dolt  in  many  a  strait, 
And  plead  the  cause  of  the  unletter'd  great."  Badham. 


SATIRE  VIII. 


109 


marble/  and  your  image  is  endowed  with  life  !  Tell  me, 
descendant  of  the  Teucri,  who  considers  dumb  animals 
highly  bred,  unless  strong  and  courageous  ?  Surely  it  is  on 
this  score  we  praise  the  fleet  horse — to  grace  whose  speed 
full  many  a  palm  glows, ^  and  Victory,  in  the  circus  hoarse 
with  shouting,  stands  exulting  by.  He  is  the  steed  of  fame, 
from  whatever  pasture  he  comes,  whose  speed  is  brilliantly 
before  the  others,  and  whose  dust  is  first  on  the  plain.  But 
,the  brood  of  Corytha,  and  Hirpinus^  stock,  are  put  up  for 
sale  if  victory  sit  but  seldom  on  their  yoke.  In  their  case 
no  regard  is  had  to  their  pedigree — their  dead  sires  win 
them  no  favor — they  are  forced  to  change  their  owners  for 
paltry  prices,  and  draw  wagons  with  galled  withers,*  if  slow 
of  foot,  and  only  fit  to  turn  Nepos'^  mill.  Therefore  that 
we  may  admire  you,  and  not  yours,  first  achieve  some  noble 
act*  that  I  may  inscribe  on  your  statue's  base,  besides  those 
honors  that  we  pay,  and  ever  shall  pay,  to  those  to  whom 
you  are  indebted  for  all. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  the  youth  whom  common  report 
represents  to  us  as  haughty  and  puffed  up  from  his  relation- 
ship to  Nero.^    For  in  that  rank  of  life  the  courtesies^  of 

1  Marmoreum. 

"  For  'tis  no  bar  to  kindred,  that  thy  block 
Is  form'd  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  theirs  of  rock."  Gifford. 
^  Fervet.   "  Frequenter  celebratur."   Lubin.   Some  commentators 
interpret  it  of  the  eager  clapping  of  the  hands  of  the  spectators: 
others,  of  the  prize  of  victory. 

*'  The  palm  of  oft-repeated  victories."  Hodgson. 
**  Whom  many  a  well-earned  palm  and  trophy  grace."  Gifford. 
"Whose  easy  triumph  and  transcendent  speed, 
Palm  after  palm  proclaim."  Badham. 

3  Nepos,  the  name  of  a  noted  miller  at  Rome. 

4  Aliquid.  "Sometimes  greaV  So  i.,  74,  "  Si  vis  esse  aliquis^  Hall 
imitates  this  beautifully : 

"  Brag  of  thy  father's  faults,  they  are  thine  own ; 
Brag  of  his  lands,  if  they  are  not  foregone  : 
Brag  of  thine  own  good  deeds  ;  for  the^  are  thine, 
More  than  his  life,  or  lands,  or  golden  line." 
^  Nerone.   Cf.  ad  1.  39. 

«  Sensus  communis.   There  are  few  phrases  in  Juvenal  on  which  the 


no 


JUVENAL. 


good  breeding  are  commonly  rare  enough*  But  you,  Ponti- 
cus,  I  would  not  have  you  valued  for  your  ancestors'  re- 
nown ;  so  as  to  contribute  nothing  yourself  to  deserve  the 
praise  of  posterity.  It  is  wretched  work  building  on  an- 
other's fame  ;  lest  the  whole  pile  crumble  into  ruins  when 
the  pillars  that  held  it  up  are  withdrawn.  The  vine  that 
trails  along  the  ground,^  sighs  for  its  widowed  elms  in  vain. 

Prove  yourself  a  good  soldier,  a  faithful  guardian,  an  in- 
corruptible judge.  If  ever  you  shall  be  summoned  as  a 
witness  in  a  doubtful  and  uncertain  cause,  though  Phalaris 
himself  command  you  to  turn  liar,  and  dictate  the  perjuries 
with  his  bull  placed  before  your  eyes,  deem  it  to  be  the  sum- 
mit of  impiety 2  to  prefer  existence  to  honor,  ^  and  for  the 
sake  of  life  to  sacrifice  life's  only  end  !  He  that  deserves  to 
die  18  dead,  though  he  still  sup  on  a  hundred  Gauran* 


commentators  are  more  divided.  Some  interpret  it  exactly  in  the 
sense  of  the  English  words  "common  sense."  Others,  fellow- 
feeling,  sympathy  with  mankind  at  large."  Browne  takes  it  to  be 
♦*  tact."  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  iii.,  66  ;  Phsedr.,  i..  Fab.  vii.,  4.  There  is  a 
long  and  excellent  note  in  Gifford,  who  translates  it  himself  by  "  a 
sense  of  modesty,"  but  allows  that  in  Cicero  it  means  "  a  polite  in- 
tercourse between  man  and  man;"  in  Horace,  "suavity  of  man- 
ners;" in  Seneca,  "a  proper  regard  for  the  decencies  of  life;"  by 
others  it  is  used  for  all  these,  which  together  constitute  what  we  call 
**  courteousness,  or  good  breeding."  So  Quintilian,  I.,  ii.,  20.  Hodg- 
son turns  it, 

For  plain  good  sense,  first  blessing  of  the  sky, 

Is  rarely  met  with  in  a  state  so  high." 

Badham, 

**  In  that  high  estate 
Plain  common  sense  is  far  from  common  fate." 

1  Stratus  humi. 

"  Stretch'd  on  the  ground,  the  vine's  weak  tendrils  try 
To  clasp  the  elm  they  dropped  from,  fail,  and  die."  Gifford. 

2  Summum  crede  nefas.  See  some  beautiful  remarks  in  Coleridge's 
Introduction  to  the  Greek  Poets,  p.  24,  25. 

3  Pudori. 

'*  At  honor's  cost  a  feverish  span  extend, 
And  sacrifice  for  life,  life's  only  end  ! 
Life  !   I  profane  the  word  :  can  those  be  said 
To  live,  who  merit  death?   No !  they  are  dead."  Gifford. 

4  Gaurana.  Gaurus  (cf.  ix.,  57),  a  mountain  of  Campania,  near 
Baise  and  the  Lucrine  Lake,  which  was  famous  for  oysters  Ccf.  iv.» 


SATIRE  VIII.  Ill 


oysters,  and  plunge  in  a  whole  bath  of  the  perfumes  of 
Cosmus.  1 

When  your  long-expected  province  shall  at  length  receive 
you  for  its  ruler,  set  a  bound  to  your  passion,  put  a  curb  on 
your  avarice.  Have  pity  on  our  allies  whom  we  have  brought 
to  poverty.  You  see  the  very  marrow  drained  from  the 
empty  bones  of  kings.  Have  respect  to  what  the  laws  pre- 
scribe, the  senate  enjoins.  Remember  what  great  rewards 
await  the  good,  with  how  just  a  stroke  ruin  lighted  on  Capito^ 
and  Numitor,  thos^  pirates  of  the  Cilicians,  when  the  senate 
fulminated  its  decrees  against  them.  But  what  avails  their 
condemnation,  when  Pansa  plunders  you  of  all  that  iSTatta 
left  ?  Look  out  for  an  auctioneer  to  sell  your  tattered  clothes, 
Chserippus,  and  then  hold  your  tongue  !  It  is  sheer  mad- 
ness to  lose,  when  all  is  gone,  even  Charon's  fee.^ 

There  were  not  the  same  lamentations  of  yore,  nor  was 
the  wound  inflicted  on  our  allies  by  pillage  as  great  as  it  is 
now,  w^hile  they  w^ere  still  flourishing,  and  but  recently  con- 

141,  "  Lucrinum  ad  saxum  Rutupinove  edita  fundo  Ostrea,"  Plin., 
iii..5.  Martial,  v.,  Ep.  xxxvii.,  3,  "  Concha  Lucrini  delicatior  stag- 
ni      now  called  '*  Gierro." 

1  Cosmus,  a  celebrated  perfumer,  mentioned  repeatedly  by  Martial. 

2  Capito.  Cossutianus  Capito,  son-in-law  of  Tigellinus  (cf.  i.,  155. 
Tac,  Ann.,  xiv.,  48;  xvi.,  17),  was  accused  by  the  Cilicians  of  pecula- 
tion and  cruelty  ("maculosum  foedumque,  et  idem  jus  audacise  in 
provincia  ratum  quod  in  urbe  exercuerat "),  and  condemned  "lege 
repetundarum."  Tac,  Ann.,  xiii.,  33.  Thrasea  Psetus  was  the  advo- 
cate of  the  Cilicians,  and  in  revenge  for  this,  when  Capito  was  re- 
stored to  his  honors  by  the  influence  of  Tigellinus,  he  procured  the 
death  of  Thrasea.  Ann.,  xvi.,  21,  28,  33.  Of  Numitor  nothing  is 
known  save  that  he  plundered  these  Cilicians,  themselves  once  the 
most  notorious  of  pirates.  Cf.  Plat,  in  Pomp.  Some  read  Tutor  ;  a 
Julius  Tutor  is  mentioned  repeatedly  in  the  fourth  book  of  Tac.  Hist.» 
but  with  no  allusion  to  his  plundering  propensities. 

^  Naulum. 

Nor,  though  your  earthly  goods  be  sunk  and  lost, 
Lose  the  poor  waftage  of  the  wandering  ghost."  Hodgson. 
Cf.  iii.,  267,  "  Nec  habet  quem  porrigat  ore  trientem."  Holyday  and 
Ruperti  interpret  it,  "  Do  not  waste  your  little  remnant  in  an  unprofit- 
able journey  to  Rome  to  accuse  your  plunderer."  Gifford  says  it  is 
merely  the  old  proverb,  and  renders  it,  "And  though  you've  lost  the 
hatchet,  save  the  haft." 


112 


}UVENAL. 


quered.^  Then  every  house  was  full,  and  a  huge  pile  of 
money  stood  heaped  up,  cloaks  from  Sparta,  purple  robes 
from  Cos,  and  along  with  pictures  by  Parrhasius,  and  statues 
by  Myro,  the  ivory  of  Phidias  seemed  instinct  with  life  f 
and  many  a  work  from  Polycletus'  hand  in  every  house ; 
few  were  the  tables  that  could  not  show  a  cup  of  Mentor's 
chasing.  Then  came  Dolabella,  ^  and  then  Antony,  then  the 
sacrilegious  Verres  they  brought  home  in  their  tall^  ships 
the  spoils  they  dared  not  show,  and  more^  triumphs  from 
peace  than  were  ever  won  from  war.  Now  our  allies  have 
but  few  yokes  of  oxen,  a  small  stock  of  brood-mares,  and  the 
patriarch''  of  the  herd  will  be  harried  from  the  pasture  they 
have  already  taken  possession  of.  Then  the  very  Lares 
themselves,  if  there  is  any  statue  worth  looking  at,  if  any 
little  shrine  still  holds  its  single  god.  For  this,  since  it  is 
the  best  they  have,  is  the  highest  prize  they  can  seize  upon. 

You  may  perhaps  despise  the  Ehodians  unfit  for  war,  and 
essenced  Corinth  :  and  well  you  may  !  How  can  a  resin- 
smeared®  youth,  and  the  depilated  legs  of  a  whole  nation, 
retaliate  upon  you.  You  must  keep  clear  of  rugged  Spain, 
the  Gallic  car,^  and  the  Illyrian  coast.     Spare  too  those 

1  Modo  victis.  Browne  explains  this  by  tantummodo  vidis,  i.e.,  only 
subdued,  not  plundered  ;  and  so  Ruperti. 

2  Vivebat.    "  And  ivory  taught  by  Phidias'  skill  to  live."  GiflFord. 

3  Dolabella.  There  were  three  "  pirates  "  of  this  name,  all  accused 
of  extortion;  of  whom  Cicero's  son-in-law,  the  governor  of  Syria, 
seems  to  have  been  the  worst. 

4  Verres  retired  from  Rome  and  lived  in  luxurious  and  happy  re- 
tirement twenty-six  years. 

5  Altis,OT  "deep-laden." 

6  Plures. 

More  treasures  from  our  friends  in  peace  obtain'd, 
Than  from  our  foes  in  war  were  ever  gain'd."  Gifford. 

7  Pater.     "  They  drive  the  father  of  the  herd  away. 

Making  both  stallion  and  his  pasture  prey."  Dryden. 

8  Resinata.  Resin  dissolved  in  oil  was  used  to  clear  the  skin  of 
superfluous  hairs.  Of.  Plin.,  xiv.,  20,  "pudet  confiteri  maximum 
jam  honorem  (resinse)  esse  in  evellendis  ab  virorum  corporibus 
pilis." 

®  Gallicus  axis.   Cf.  Caes.,  B.  G.,  i.,  51.    "The  war  chariot ;"  or  the 


SATIRE  VIII.  113 


reapers^  that  overstock  the  city,  and  give  it  leisure  for  the 
circus^  and  the  stage.  Yet  what  rewards  to  repay  so  atro- 
cious a  crime  could  you  carry  off  from  thence,  since  Marius^ 
has  so  lately  plundered  the  impoverished  Africans  even  of 
their  very  girdles 

You  must  be  especially  cautious  lest  a  deep  injury  be  in- 
flicted on  those  who  are  bold  as  well  as  wretched.  Though 
you  may  strip  them  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  they  possess, 
you  will  yet  leave  them  shield  and  sword,  and  javelin  and 
helm.    Plundered  of  all,  they  yet  have  arms  to  spare  ! 

What  I  have  just  set  forth  is  no  opinion  of  my  own.  Be- 
lieve that  I  am  reciting  to  you  a  leaf  of  the  sibyl,  that  can 
not  lie.  If  your  retinue  are  men  of  spotless  life,  if  no  favorite 
youth^  barters  your  judgments  for  gold,  if  yourwife^  is  clear 
from  all  stain  of  guilt,  and  does  not  prepare  to  go  through 
the  district  courts,'  and  all  the  towns  of  your  province, 

"  climate  of  Gaul,"  as  colder  than  that  of  Rome,  and  breeding  fiercer 
men.   Cf.  vi.,  470.    "Hyperboreum  axem,"  xiv.,  42. 

1  Messoribus.  These  reapers  are  the  Africans,  from  whom  Rome  de- 
rived her  principal  supply  of  corn.   Cf.  v.,119.   Plin.,  v.,  4. 

2  Circo.  Cf.  X.,  80,  "duas  tantum  res  anxius  optat,  Panem  et  Cir- 
censes."  Tac,  Hist.,  i.,  4,  "Plebs  sordida  ac  Circo  et  Theatris 
sueta." 

"  From  those  thy  gripes  restrain, 
Who  with  their  sweat  Rome's  luxury  maintain, 
And  send  us  plenty,  while  our  wanton  day 
Is  lavish'd  at  the  circus  or  the  play."  Dryden. 

3  Marius.   Vid.  ad  i.,  47. 

4  Discinxerit.  Cf  Virg.,  ^n.,  viii.,  724,  "Hie  Nomadum  genus  et 
discinctos  Mulciber  Afros."  Sil.  Ital.,  ii.,  56,  "Discinctos  Libyas." 
Money  was  carried  in  girdles  (xiv.,  296).  and  the  Africans  wore  but 
little  other  clothing.  For  the  amount  of  his  plunder,  see  Plin.,  ii., 
Ep.  xi.,  "  Cornutus,  censuit  septingenta  millia  quae  acceperat  Marius 
serario  inferenda." 

^  Acersecomes.  Some  "puer  intonsus"  with  flowing  locks  like 
Bacchus  or  Apollo,  ^ol^oq  aK€p<T€K6ixr)<s.  Hom.,  II.,  xx.,  39.  Pind., 
Pyth.,  iii.,  26. 

6  Conjuge.  Cf.  the  discussion  in  the  senate  recorded  Tac,  Ann., 
iii. ,  33,  seq. 

7  Convenius.  "Loca  constituta  in  provinciis  juri  dicundo."  The 
different  towns  in  the  provinces  where  the  Roman  governors  held 
their  courts  and  heard  appeals.  The  courts  as  well  as  the  tovms  were 
called  by  this  name.   They  were  also  called  Fora  and  Jurisdictiones. 


114 


JUVENAL. 


ready,  like  a  Celseno'  with  her  crooked  talons,  to  swoop 
upon  the  gold — then  you  may,  if  you  please,  reckon  your 
descent  from  Picus  ;  and  if  high-sounding  names  are  your 
fancy,  place  the  whole  army  of  Titans  among  your  ances- 
tors, or  even  Prometheus^  himself.  Adopt  a  founder  of  your 
line  from  any  book  you  please.  But  if  ambition  and  lust 
hurry  you  away  headlong,  if  you  break  your  rods^  on  the 
bloody  backs  of  the  allies,  if  your  delight  is  in  axes  blunted 
by  the  victor  worn  out  with  using  them — then  the  nobility 
of  your  sires  themselves  begins  to  rise*  in  judgment  against 
you,  and  hold  forth  a  torch  to  blaze  upon  your  shameful 
deeds.  ^  Every  act  of  moral  turpitude  incurs  more  glaring 
reprobation  in  exact  proportion  to  the  rank  of  him  that  com- 
mits it.  Why  vaunt  your  pedigree  to  me?  you,  that  are 
wont  to  put  your  name  to  forged  deeds  in  the  very  temples^ 
which  your  grandsire  built,  before  your  very  fathers'  trium- 
phal statues  !  or,  an  adulterer  that  dares  not  face  the  day, 
you  veil  your  brows  concealed  beneath  a  Santon''  cowl.  The 
bloated  Damasippus  is  whirled  in  his  rapid  car  past  the 


Vid.  Plin.,  III.,  i.,  3  ;  V.,  xxix.,  29.  Cic.  in  Verr.,  II.,  v.,  11.  Caes., 
B.  G.,  i.,  54;  vi.,44. 

1  Celaeno.    Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iii., 211,  " dira  Celseno  Harpyiseque  alise." 

2  Promethea. 

"  E'en  from  Prometheus'  self  thy  lineage  trace, 
And  ransack  history  to  adorn  thy  race."  Hodgson. 

3  Frangis  virgas. 

"  Rods  broke  on  our  associates'  bleeding  backs, 
And  headsmen  laboring  till  they  blunt  their  axe."  Dryden. 

4  Incipit  ipsorum,. 

"  The  lofty  pride  of  every  honor'd  name 
Shall  rise  to  vindicate  insulted  fame, 
And  hold  the  torch  to  blazon  forth  thy  shame."  Hodgson. 

5  Contra  te  stare. 

Will  to  his  blood  oppose  your  daring  claim. 

And  fire  a  torch  to  blaze  upon  your  shame."  Giflford. 

6  Temples.  The  sealing  of  wills  was  usually  performed  in  temples; 
in  the  morning,  and  fasting,  as  the  canon  law  afterward  directed. 

Santonico.  The  Santones  were  a  people  of  Aquitania,  between 
the  Loire  and  Garonne.  Cf.  Mart.,  xiv.,  Ep.  128,  "  Gallia  Santonico 
vestit  te  bardocucuUo." 


SATIRE  VIII. 


"5 


ashes  and  bones  of  his  ancestors — and  with  his  own  hands, 
yes  !  though  consul  !  with  his  own  hands  locks  his  wheel 
with  the  frequent  drag-chain,  i  It  is,  indeed,  at  night.  But 
still  the  moon  sees  him  !  The  stars  strain  on  him  their  at- 
testing eyes.  2  When  the  period  of  his  magistracy  is  closed, 
Damasippus^  will  take  whip  in  hand  in  the  broad  glare  of 
day,  and  never  dread  meeting  his  friend  now  grown  old,  and 
will  be  the  first  to  give  him  the  coachman's  salute,  and  untie 
the  trusses  and  pour  the  barley*  before  his  weary  steeds  him- 
self. Meantime,  even  while  according  to  Numa's  ancient 
rites  he  sacrifices  the  woolly  victim  and  the  stalwart  bull 
before  Jove's  altar,  he  swears  by  Epona^  alone,  and  the  faces 
daubed  over  the  stinking  stalls.  But  when  he  is  pleased  to 
repeat  his  visits  to  the  taverns  open  all  night  long,  the  Syro- 
phoenician,  reeking  with  his  assiduous  perfume,^  runs  to 
meet  him  (the  Syrophoenician  that  dwells  at  the  Idumsean''^ 
gate),  with  all  the  studied  courtesy  of  a  host,  he  salutes  him 
as  lord  and  king  ;"  and  Cyane,  with  gown  tucked  up, 
with  her  bottle  for  sale.  One  who  wishes  to  palliate  his 
crimes  will  say  to  me,     Well ;  we  did  so  too  when  we  were 

1  Sufflamine.  "  The  introduction  of  the  drag-chain  has  a  local  pro- 
priety :  Rome,  with  its  seven  hills,  had  just  so  many  necessities  for 
the  frequent  use  of  the  sufflamen.  This  necessity,  from  the  change 
of  the  soil,  exists  no  longer."  Badham. 

2  Testes.    Cf.  vi.,  311,  Luna  teste. 

3  Damasippus  (cf.  Hor.,  ii..  Sat.  iii.,  16)  was  a  name  of  the  Licinian 
gens.  '*  Damasippus  was  sick,"  says  Holyday,  of  that  disease  which 
the  Spartans  call  horse-feeding. 

4  Hordea.   Horses  in  Italy  are  fed  on  barley,  not  on  oats. 

5  Eponam  (cf  Aristoph.,  Nub.,  84),  the  patroness  of  grooms.  Some 
read  "  Hipponam,"  which  Gifford  prefers,  from  the  tameness  of  the 
epithet  "  solam."    Cf  Blunt's  Vestiges,  p.  29. 

"  On  some  rank  deity,  whose  filthy  face 
We  suitably  o'er  stinking  stables  place."  Dryden. 

6  Amomo,  an  Assyrian  shrub.    Cf  iv.,  308.  \ 

7  Idumse.  The  gate  at  Rome  near  the  Arch  of  Titus,  through  which 
Vespasian  and  Titus  entered  the  city  in  triumph  after  their  victories 
in  Palestine. 

8  Dominnm.  Cf.  Mart.,  I.,  Ep.  113,  "  Cum  te  non  nossem  dominum. 
regemque  vocabam."   Cf.  iv.,  Ep.  84,  5. 


Ii6  JUVENAL. 


young  Granted.  But  surely  you  left  off,  and  did  not  in- 
dulge in  your  folly  beyond  that  period.  Let  what  you  basely 
dare  be  ever  brief  !  There  are  some  faults  that  should  be 
shorn  away  with  our  first  beard.  Make  all  reasonable  al- 
lowance for  boys.  But  Damasippus  frequents  those  de- 
bauches of  the  bagnios,  and  the  painted  signs,  ^  when  of  ripe 
age  for  war,  for  guarding  Armenia^  and  Syria's  rivers,  and 
the  Rhine  or  Danube.  His  time  of  life  qualifies  him  to 
guard  the  emperor's  person.  Send  then  to  Ostia  !^  Cfesar — 
send  !  But  look  for  your  general  in  some  great  tavern. 
You  will  find  him  reclining  with  some  common  cut-throat ; 
in  a  medley  of  sailors,  and  thieves,  and  run-away  slaves ; 
among  executioners  and  cheap  cofiin-makers,  *  and  the  now 
silent  drums  of  the  priest  of  Cybele,  lying  drunk  on  his 
back.  5  There  there  is  equal  liberty  for  all — cups  in  common 
— nor  different  couch  for  any,  or  table  set  aloof  from  the 


1  Inscripta  lintea.  Perhaps  "curtains,  having  painted  on  them  what 
was  for  sale  within."  Others  say  it  means  "embroidered  with  needle- 
work ;"  or  "  towels,"  according  to  Calderinus,  who  campares  Catull., 
XXV.,  7. 

2  Armenix.  The  allusion  is  to  Corbulo's  exploits  in  Partha  and  Ar- 
menia in  Nero's  reign,  a.d.  60.  Cf.  ad  iii.,  251.  There  were  great  dis- 
turbances in  the  same  quarters  in  Trajan's  reign,  which  caused  his 
expedition,  in  a.d,  114,  against  the  Armenians  and  Parthians.  In 
A.D.  100,  Marius  Priscus  was  accused  by  Pliny  and  Tacitus.  Vid. 
Plin..  ii.,  Ep,  xi.  Probably  half  way  between  these  two  dates  we  may 
fix  the  writing  of  this  Satire. 

3  Mitte  Ostia.  So  most  of  the  commentators  interpret  it.  "Send 
your  Legatus  to  take  the  command  of  the  troops  for  foreign  service, 
waiting  for  embarkation  at  Ostia."  But  if  so,  "  ad  "  should  be  ex- 
pressed, and  either  Tibernia  added,  or  Ostia  made  of  the  1st  declen- 
sion. Britann.,  therefore,  and  Heinrich  explain  it,  "  Pass  by  his  own 
doors  ;"  omitte  quserere  illic,  "he  is  far  away." 

4  Sandapila.  The  bier  or  open  coffin,  on  which  the  poor,  or  those 
killed  in  the  amphitheatre,  were  carried  to  burial ;  hence  "  sandapila 
popularis."  Suet.,  Domit.,  17.  Stepney  (in  Dryden's  version)  thus 
enumerates  these  worthies : 

"  Quacks,  coffin-makers,  fugitives,  and  sailors. 
Rooks,  common  soldiers,  hangmen,  thieves  and  tailors." 
^  Eesupinaniis.   In  Holyday's  quaint  version, 

"Among  great  Cybel's  silent  drums,  which  lack 
Their  Phrygian  priest,  who  lies  drunk  on  his  back." 


SATIRE  VIII. 


117 


herd.  What  would  you  do,  Ponticus,  were  it  your  lot  to 
have  a  slave  of  such  a  character?  Why  surely  you  would 
dispatch  him  to  the  Lucanian  or  Tuscan  bridewells.^  But 
you,  ye  Trojugense  !  find  excuses  for  yourselves,  and  what 
would  disgrace  a  cobbler^  will  be  becoming  in  a  Volesus  or 
Brutus  ! 

What  if  we  never  produce  examples  so  foul  and  shameful, 
that  worse  do  not  yet  remain  behind  !  When  all  your 
wealth  was  squandered,  Damasippus,  you  let  your  voice  for 
hire^  to  the  stage,*  to  act  the  noisy  Phasma^  of  Catullus. 
Velox  Lentulus  acted  Laureolus,  and  creditably  too.  In  my 
judgment  he  deserved  crucifying  in  earnest.  Nor  yet  can 
you  acquit  the  people  themselves  from  blame.  The  brows 
of  the  people  are  too  hardened  that  sit^  spectators  of  the 
buffooneries  of  the  patricians,  listen  to  the  Fabii  with  naked 


1  Ergastula.  Private  prisons  attached  to  Roman  farms,  in  which 
the  slaves  worked  in  chains.  The  Tuscan  were  peculiarly  severe. 
Vid.  Dennis's  Etruria,  vol.  i.,  p.  xlviii. 

2  Turpia  cerdoni.  Cf.  iv.,  13.  "  Nam  quod  turpe  bonis  Titio  Seioque 
decebat  Crispinum."   Pers.,  iv.,  51,  "  Tollat  sua  munera  cerdo." 

"  And  crimes  that  tinge  with  shame  the  cobbler's  face, 
Become  the  lords  of  Brutus'  honor'd  race."  Hodgson. 

3  Locasti.  "  Lets  out  his  voice  (his  sole  remaining  boast), 

And  rants  the  nonsense  of  a  clam'rous  ghost."  Hodgson. 

4  Sipario.  The  curtain  or  drop-scene  in  comedy,  as  Aulseum  was  in 
tragedy.  Donat. 

5  Phasma.  Probably  a  translation  from  the  Greek.  Ter.,  Eun.,  pr. 
9,  Idem  Menandri  phasma  nunc  nuper  dedit."  Catullus  is  not  to 
be  confounded  with  C.  Valerius  Catullus  of  Verona  (the  old  Schol. 
says  Q.  Lutatius  Catullus  is  meant,  and  quotes  xiii.,  11,  whom  Lubi- 
nus,  ad  loc,  calls  "  Urbanus  Catullus")  as  far  as  the  Phasma  is  eon- 
cerned.— Laureolus  was  the  chief  character  in  a  play  or  ballet  by  Val. 
Catullus,  or  Laberius,  or  Nsevius :  and  was  crucified  on  the  stage,  and 
then  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts.  Martial  (de  Spect.,  Ep.  vii.)  says 
this  was  acted  to  the  life  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre,  the  part  of  the 
bandit  being  performed  by  a  real  malefactor,  who  was  crucified  and 
torn  to  pieces  in  the  arena,  "  Non  falsa  pendens  in  cruce  Laureolus." 

"  And  Lentulus  acts  hanging  with  such  art. 
Were  I  a  judge,  he  should  not  feign  the  part."  Dryden. 
*  Sedet.   "  Sit  with  unblushing  front,  and  calmly  see 
The  hired  patrician's  low  buffoonery  ; 
Smile  at  the  Fabii's  tricks,  and  grin  to  hear 
The  cuffs  resound  from  the  Mamerci's  ear."  Gifford 


ii8 


JUVENAL. 


feet,  and  laugh  at  the  slaps  on  the  faces  of  the  Mamerci. 
What  matters  it  at  what  price  they  sell  their  lives :  they 
sell  them  at  no  tyrant's  compulsion,^  [nor  hesitate^  to  do  it 
even  at  the  games  of  the  praetor  seated  on  high.]  Yet 
imagine  the  gladiator's  sword^  on  one  side,  the  stage  on  the 
other.  Which  is  the  better  alternative  ?  Has  any  one  so 
slavish  a  dread  of  death  as  to  become  the  jealous  lover  of 
Thymele,*  the  colleague  of  the  heavy  Corinthus?  Yet  it  is 
nothing  to  be  wondered  at,  if  the  emperor  turn  harper,  that 
the  nobleman  should  turn  actor.  To  crown  all  this,  what  is 
left  but  the  amphitheatre  ?^  And  this  disgrace  of  the  city 
you  have  as  well — Gracchus®  not  fighting  equipped  as  a  Mir- 
millo,  with  buckler  or  falchion  (for  he  condemns — yes,  con- 
demns and  hates  such  an  equipment).  Nor  does  he  conceal 
his  face  beneath  a  helmet.  See !  he  wields  a  trident. 
When  he  has  cast  without  effect  the  nets  suspended  from  his 
poised  right  hand,  he  boldly  lifts  his  uncovered  face  to  the 
spectators,  and,  easily  to  be  recognized,  flees  across  the  whole 
arena.  We  can  not  mistake  the  tunic,'  since  the  ribbon  of 
gold  reaches  from  his  neck,  and  flutters  in  the  breeze  from 
his  high-peaked  cap.    Therefore  the  disgrace,  which  the 


1  Cogente  Nerone.  Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  xiv.,  14,  who  abstains  from  men- 
tioning the  names  of  the  nobles  thus  disgraced,  out  of  respect  for  their 
ancestors.  Cf.  Dio.,  Ixi.  Suetonius  says  (Nero,  cap.  xii.)  that  400  sena- 
tors and  600  knights  were  thus  dishonored  (but  Lipsius  says  40  and 
60  are  the  true  numbers). 

2  JV'ec  dubitant.   No  doubt  a  spurious  line. 

3  Gladios.  This  is  the  usual  interpretation.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
better  to  take  "  gladios  "  for  the  death  that  awaits  you  if  you  refuse 
to  comply  :  as  iv.,  96  ;  x.,  345.   So  Badham  : 

"  Place  here  the  tyrant's  sword,  and  there  the  scene  ; 
Gods!  can  a  Roman  hesitate  between  !  " 

4  Thym.ele.   Cf.  i.,  36. 

^  Ludus.   Properly,  "  school  of  gladiators." 

6  Gracchus,    Cf.  ii.,  143. 

7  Tunicx.  Cf.  ii.,  143,  tunicati  fuscina  Gracchi.  Suet.,  Cal..  30. 
The  Retiarii  wore  a  tunic  only.  The  gold  spira  was  the  band  that 
tied  the  tall  conical  cap  of  the  Salii ;  who  wore  also  a  gold  fringe 
round  the  tunic. 


SATIRE  VIII. 


119 


Secutor  had  to  submit  to,  in  being  forced  to  fight  with  Grac- 
chus, was  worse  than  any  wound.  Were  the  people  allowed 
the  uncontrolled  exercise  of  their  votes,  who  could  be  found 
so  abandoned  as  to  hesitate  to  prefer  Seneca^  to  Nero  ?  For 
whose  punishment  there  should  have  been  prepared  not  a 
single  ape^  only,  or  one  snake  or  sack.^  ''His  crime  is 
matched  by  that  of  Orestes  ?  "  But  it  is  the  motive  cause 
that  gives  the  quality  to  the  act.  Since  he,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  gods  themselves,  was  the  avenger  of  his  father 
butchered  in  his  cups.  But  he  neither  imbrued  his  hands  in 
Electra's  blood,  or  that  of  his  Spartan  wife  ;  he  mixed  no 
aconite  for  his  relations.  Orestes  never  sang  on  the  stage  ; 
he  never  wrote  ''Troics."  What  blacker  crime  was  there 
for  Virginius'^  arms  to  avenge,  or  Galba  leagued  with  Vin- 
dex  ?  In  all  his  tyranny,  cruel  and  bloody  as  it  was,  what 
exploit  did  Nero^  achieve  ?  These  are  the  works,  these  the 
accomplishments  of  a  high-born  prince — delighting  to  pros- 
titute' his  rank  by  disgraceful  dancing  on  a  foreign  stage^ 

1  Seneca.  There  is  said  to  be  an  allusion  here  to  the  plot  of  Subrius 
Flavius  to  murder  Nero  and  make  Seneca  emperor.  It  was  believed 
that  Seneca  was  privy  to  it.   Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,  65. 

2  Simia.  Cf.  xiii.,  155,  "  Et  deducendum  corio  bovis  in  mare  cum 
quo  clauditur  adversis  innoxia  simia  fatis."  The  punishment  of  par- 
ricides was  to  be  scourged,  then  sewn  up  in  a  bull's  hide  with  a  ser- 
pent, an  ape,  a  cock,  and  a  dog,  and  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea.  The 
first  person  thus  punished  was  P.  Malleolus,  who  murdered  his 
mother.   Liv.,  Epit.  Ixviii. 

3  Culeus.  Cf.  Suet.,  Aug.,  33.  Nero  murdered  his  mother  Agrippina, 
his  aunt  Domitia,  both  his  wives,  Octavia  and  Poppaea,  his  brother 
Britannicus,  and  several  other  relations. 

4  Agamemnoidse,  Grangseus  quotes  the  Greek  verse  current  in 
Nero's  time.  Nepoor,  'Opeo-TTj?,  'WKixaitav  fjLTjTpoKTovoL.  Cf.  Suet.,  Nero,  39. 

5  Virginius  Rufus,  who  was  legatus  in  Lower  Germany,  Julius  Vin- 
dex,  propraetor  of  Gaul,  and  Sergius  Galba,  prsefect  of  Hispania  Tar- 
raconensis,  afterward  emperor,  were  the  chiefs  of  the  last  conspiracy 
against  Nero.  In  August,  a.d.  67,  Nero  was  playing  the  fool  in 
Greece  ;  in  March,  68,  he  heard  with  terror  and  dismay  of  the  revolt 
of  Vindex,  who  proclaimed  Galba.   Dio.,  Ixiii.,  22. 

6  Quid  Nero.   **  What  but  such  acts  did  Rome  indignant  see 

Perform'd  in  Nero's  savage  tyranny  ?  "  Hodgson. 
^  Prostitui.  "  To  prostitute  his  voice  for  base  renown. 

And  ravish  from  the  Greeks  a  parsley  crown."  Giffbrd, 


I20 


JUVENAL. 


and  earn  the  parsley  of  the  Grecian  crown.  Array  the 
statues  of  your  ancestors  in  the  trophies  of  your  voice.  At 
Domitius'^  feet  lay  the  long  train  of  Thyestes,  or  Antigone, 
or  Menalippe's  mask,  and  hang  your  harp^  on  the  colossus 
of  marble. 

What  could  any  one  find  more  noble  than  thy  birth,  Cati- 
line, or  thine,  Cethegus  !  Yet  ye  prepared  arms  to  be  used 
by  night,  and  flames  for  our  houses  and  temples,  as  though 
ye  had  been  the  sons  of  the  Braccati,^  or  descendants  of  the 
Senones.  Attempting  what  one  would  be  justified  in  pun- 
ishing by  the  pitched  shirt.*  But  the  consul  is  on  the 
watch^  and  restrains  your  bands.  He  whom  you  sneer  at  as 
a  novus^  homo  from  Arpinum,  of  humble  birth,  and  but 

Nero  was  in  Greece  a.d.  67,  into  which  year  (though  not  an  Olympiad) 
he  crowded  all  the  games  of  Greece,  "  Certamina  omnia  et  quae  di- 
versissimorum  temporum  sunt  cogi  in  unum  annum  jussit."  Suet., 
Ner.,  23.  "  Romam  introiit  coronam  capite  gerens  Olympiam  dextra 
manu  Pythiam,"  c.  25. 

1  Domitius  was  the  name  both  of  the  father  and  grandfather  of 
Nero.  His  father  was  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  governor  of  Transal- 
pine Gaul.  Suetonius  (Nero,  6)  tells  us  that  the  two  psedagogi  to 
whom  his  childhood  was  intrusted  were  a  saltator  and  a  toiisor.  To 
this  perhaps  his  subsequent  tastes  may  be  traced. 

2  Citharam.  Cf.  Suet.,  Ner.,  12,  "  Citharse  a  judicibus  ad  se  delatam, 
adoravit  ferrique  ad  Augusti  statuam  jussit." 

"  And  on  the  proud  Colossus  of  your  sire. 
Suspend  the  splendid  trophy  of— a  lyre  !  "  Hodgson. 
"  Sacras  coronas  in  cubiculis  circum  lectos  posuit :  item  statuas  suas 
Citharaedico  habitu:  qua  nota  etiam  nummum  percussit."  Suet., 
Ner.,  25. 

^  Braccatorum.  Gallia  Narbonensis  was  called  Braccata  from  the 
Braccae,  probably  "plaid,"  which  the  inhabitants  wore.  Plin.,  iii., 
4.  Diod.,  v.,  30.  The  Senones  were  a  people  of  Gallia  Lugdunensis, 
who  sacked  Rome  under  Brennus  ;  hence  Minores,  i.e.,  *'as  though 
you  had  been  the  hereditary  enemies  of  Rome." 

4  Tunica  molestd.  Cf  ad  i„  155,  *'a  dress  smeared  with  pitch  and 
other  combustibles,"  and  then  lighted.  Cf  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  xxv.,  5.  In 
some  cases  Nero  buried  his  victims  up  to  the  waist,  and  then  set  fire 
to  their  upper  parts. 

^  Vigilat  refers  to  Cicero's  own  words,  "Jam  intelliges  multo  me 
vigilare  acrius  ad  salutem,  quam  te  ad  pernicem  reipublicae." 

6  NovKi^.  Cicero  was  the  first  of  the  Tullia  gens  that  held  a  curule 
magistracy.  Arpinum,  his  birthplace,  now  Arpino,  was  a  small  town 
of  the  Volsci.  The  Municipia  had  their  three  grades,  of  patricians, 
knights,  and  plebeians,  as  Rome  had ;  they  lived  under  their  own 
laws,  but  their  citizens  were  eligible  to  all  offices  at  Rome. 


SATIRE  VIII. 


121 


lately  made  a  municipal  knight  at  Kome,  disposes  every- 
where his  armed  guards  to  protect  the  terrified  people,  and 
exerts  himself  in  every  quarter.  Therefore  the  peaceful 
toga,  within  the  walls,  bestowed  on  him  such  honors  and 
renown  as  not  even  Octavius  bore  away  from  Leucas^  or  the 
plains  of  Thessaly,  with  sword  reeking  with  unintermitted 
slaughter.  But  Rome  owned  him  for  a  parent.  Rome, 
when  unfettered,  2  hailed  Cicero  as  father  of  his  father-land. 

Another  native  of  Arpinum  was  wont  to  ask  for  his  wages 
when  wearied  with  another's  plow  on  the  Volscian  hills. 
After  that,  he  had  the  knotted  vine-stick^  broken  about  his 
head,  if  he  lazily  fortified  the  camp  with  sluggard  axe.  Yet 
he  braved  the  Cimbri,  and  the  greatest  perils  of  the  state, 
and  alone  protected  the  city  in  her  alarm.  And  therefore 
when  the  ravens,  that  had  never  lighted  on  bigger  carcasses,* 
flocked  to  the  slaughtered  heaps  of  Cimbrians  slain,  his 
nobly-born  colleague  is  honored  with  a  laurel  inferior  to  his.^ 

The  souls  of  the  Decii  were  plebeian,  their  very  names 
plebeian.  Yet  these  are  deemed  by  the  infernal  deities  and 
mother  Earth  a  fair  equivalent  for  the  whole  legions,  and 
all  the  forces  of  the  allies,  and  all  the  flower  of  Latium. 

1  Leucas,  ue.,  *' Actium,"  Thessalias,  "Philippi."  The  words  fol- 
lowing probably  refer  to  the  brutal  cruelty  of  Augustus  after  the 
battle. 

2  Libera.  "When  Rome  could  utter  her  free  unfettered  senti- 
ments" (as  sup.,  "  Libera  si  dentur  populo  suffragia").  Not  in  the 
spirit  of  servile  adulation,  with  which  she  bestowed  the  same  title 
on  her  emperors. 

3  Vitem.  The  centurion's  baton  of  office  as  well  as  instrument  of 
punishment.  Cf.  xiv.,  193  ;  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  xxvi.,  1.  See  the  story  of 
Lucilius,  nicknamed  Cedo  alteram,  in  Tac,  Ann.,  i.,  23. 

4  Major  a  cadaver  a.  Besides  their  fierce  gray  eyes  (xiii.,  164),  the 
Grermans  were  conspicuous  for  their  stature  and  red  hair.  Truces 
etcserulei  oculi,  rutilse  comae,  magnum  corpora  et  tantum  ad  impetum 
valida."  Tac, Germ., iv.   "  Cimbri prse Italis  ingentes."  Flor.,  iii.,  3. 

5  Lauro  secundd.  A  double  triumph  was  decreed  to  Marius  ;  he  gave 
up  the  second  to  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  his  noble  colleague,  to  satisfy  his 
soldiers,  who  knew,  better  than  Juvenal,  that  the  nobleman's  services 
did  not  fall  short  of  those  of  the  plebian.  Marius  afterward  barbar- 
ously murdered  him. 

6 


122 


JUVENAL. 


For  the  Decii^  were  more  highly  valued  by  them  than  all 
they  died  to  save  ! 

It  was  one  born  from  a  slave^  that  won  the  robe  and  dia- 
dem and  fasces  of  Quirinus,  that  last  of  good  kings  !  They 
that  were  for  loosening  the  bolts  of  the  gates  betrayed  to  the 
exiled  tyrants,  were  the  sons  of  the  consul  himself !  men 
from  whom  we  might  have  looked  for  some  glorious  achieve- 
ment in  behalf  of  liberty  when  in  peril  ;  some  act  that 
Mucins'  self,  or  Codes,  might  admire  ;  and  the  maiden  that 
swam  across^  the  Tiber,  then  the  limit  of  our  empire.  He 
that  divulged  to  the  fathers  the  secret  treachery  was  a  slave,* 
afterward  to  be  mourned  for  by  all  the  Koman  matrons  : 
while  they  suffer  the  well-earned  punishment  of  the  scourge, 
and  the  axe,^  then  first  used  by  Kome  since  she  became  re- 
publican. 

I  had  rather  that  Thersites^  were  your  sire,  provided  you 
resembled  ^scides  and  could  wield  the  arms  of  Vulcan,  than 
that  Achilles  should  beget  you  to  be  a  match  to  Thersites. 

1  Deciorum.  Alluding  to  the  three  immolations  of  the  Decii,  father, 
son,  and  grandson,  in  the  wars  with  the  Latins,  Gauls,  and  Pyrrhus. 
All  three  bore  the  name  of  Publius  Decius  Mus,  Juvenal  comes  very 
near  the  formula  of  self-devotion  given  in  Liv.,  viii.,  6,  seq.  "  Exer- 
citum  Diis  Manibus  matrique  terrse  deberi." 

2  Ancilla  natus.  Servius  Tullius  (Cf.  vii.,  199)  was  the  son  of  Ocrisia, 
or  Ocriculana,  a  captive  from  Corniculum.  Liv.,  i.,  39.  The  Trebea 
was  a  white  robe  with  a  border  and  broad  stripes  (trabes)  of  purple, 
worn  afterward  by  consuls  and  augurs  :  cf.  x.,  35 ;  the  diadema  of  the 
ancient  kings  was  a  JUlet  or  ribbon,  not  a  crown. 

"  And  he  who  graced  the  purple  which  he  wore, 
The  last  good  king  of  Rome,  a  bondmaid  bore."  Gifford. 

3  Natavit. 

"  And  she  who  mock'd  the  javelins  whistling  round, 
And  swam  the  Tiber,  then  the  empire's  bound."  Giflford. 

^  Servus.  Livy  calls  him  Vindicius;  and  derives  from  him  the 
name  of  the  Vindicta,  "the  rod  of  manumission."  Liv.,  ii.,  7.  He 
was  mourned  for  at  his  death  by  the  Roman  matrons  publicly,  as 
Brutus  had  been. 

5  Legum  prima  securis.  Tarquinius  Priscus  introduced  the  axe  and 
fasces  with  the  other  regalia.  The  axe  therefore  had  often  fallen  for 
the  tyra7ds;  now  it  is  used  for  the  first  time  in  defense  of  a  legal  con- 
stitution and  a,  free  republic. 

^  Tfier sites.   Hom.,  IL,  ii.,  212. 


SATIRE  IX. 


123 


And  yet,  however  far  you  go  back,  however  far  you  trace 
your  name,  you  do  but  derive  your  descent  from  the  infamous 
sanctuary.  1  That  first  of  your  ancestors,  whoever  he  was, 
was  either  a  shepherd,  or  else — what  I  would  rather  not 
mention  ! 


SATIRE  IX. 


ARGUMENT. 

The  Satire  consists  of  a  dialogue  between  the  poet  and  one  Naevolus, 
a  dependent  of  some  wealthy  debauchee,  who,  after  making  him 
subservient  to  his  unnatural  passions,  in  return  starved,  insulted, 
hated,  and  discarded  him.  The  whole  object  seems  to  be,  to  incul- 
cate the  grand  moral  lesson,  that,  under  any  circumstances,  a  life 
of  sin  is  a  life  of  slavery. 

I  SHOULD  like  to  know,  Naevolus,^  why  you  so  often  meet 
me  with  clouded  brow  forlorn,  like  Marsyas  after  his  defeat. 
What  have  you  to  do  with  such  a  face  as  Ravola  had  when 
detected  with  his  Ehodope  ?^  We  give  a  slave  a  box  on  the 
ear,  if  he  licks  the  pastry.  Why  !  Crepereius  Pollio*  had 
not  a  more  woe-begone  face  than  yours  ;  he  that  went  about 
ready  to  pay  three  times  the  ordinary  interest,  and  could  find 
none  fools  enough  to  trust  him.  Where  do  so  many  wrinkles 
come  from  all  of  a  sudden  ?    Why,  surely  before,  contented 


^  Asylo.    Cf.  Liv.,  i.,  8. 

2  Nsevolus  is  mentioned  repeatedly  by  Martial,  and  seems  to  have 
been  a  lawyer,  i.,  Ep.  98  ;  iii.,  Ep.  71  and  95  ;  iv.,  Ep.  84 :  hence  per- 
haps the  allusion  to  Marsyas,  whose  statue  stood  in  the  Forum,  oppo- 
site the  Rostra,  as  a  warning  to  the  litigious.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  vi.,  120.. 
Xen.,  Anab.,  I.,  ii.,  8. 

^  Ehodope.  Some  well-known  courtesan  named  after  ^sop's  fellow- 
«lave  in  the  house  of  ladmon  the  Samian,  afterward  so  well  knowii 
in  Egypt.   Herod.,  ii.,  134.   Cf  ^lian.,  V.  H.,  xiii.,  33. 

^  PoUio.  Cf.  xi.,  43,    digito  mendicat  Pollio  nudo." 


124 


JUVENAL. 


with  little,  you  used  to  live  like  a  gentleman's  gentleman^ — 
a  witty  boon-companion  with  your  biting  jest,  and  sharp  at 
repartees  that  savor  of  town-life  ! 

Now  all  is  the  reverse  ;  your  looks  are  dejected  ;  your 
tangled  hair  bristles  like  a  thicket  f  there  is  none  of  that 
sleekness  over  your  whole  skin,  such  as  the  Bruttian  plaster 
of  hot  pitch  used  to  give  you  ;  but  your  legs  are  neglected 
and  rank  with  a  shrubbery  of  hair.  What  means  this 
emaciated  form,  like  that  of  some  old  invalid  parched  this 
many  a  day  with  quartan  ague  and  fever  that  has  made  his 
limbs  its  home  ?  You  may  detect^  the  anguish  of  the  mind 
that  lurks  in  the  sickly  body — and  discover  its  joys  also. 
For  the  face,  the  index  of  the  mind,  takes  its  complexion 
from  each.  You  seem,  therefore,  to  have  changed  your 
course  of  life,  and  to  run  counter  to  your  former  habits. 
For,  but  lately,  as  I  well  remember,  you  used  to  haunt  the 
temple  of  Isis,*  and  the  statue  of  Ganymede  in  the  temple 
of  Peace,  ^  and  the  secret  palaces  of  the  imported  mother^  of 


1  Vernam  equitem.  The  slaves  bom  in  the  house  were  generally 
spoiled  by  indulgence  ;  and  they  frequently  got  the  nickname  of 
Equites,  out  of  petulant  familiarity  or  fondness. 

^  Sylva. 

"  And  every  limb,  once  smooth'd  with  nicest  care, 
Rank  with  neglect,  a  shrubbery  of  hair."  Gifibrd. 

3  Deprendas. 

Sorrow  nor  joy  can  be  disguised  by  art. 

Our  foreheads  blab  the  secrets  of  our  heart."  Dryden. 

4  Isis.   Cf.  vi.,  489,  "  Aut  apud  Isiacse  potius  sacraria  lense." 

5  Pacts.  Vespasian  built  the  splendid  temple  of  Peace  near  the 
Forum,  a.d.  76.  Dio.,  Ixvi.,  15.  Suet.,  Vesp.  9.  In  it,  or  near  it, 
stood  the  statue  of  Ganymede.  Others  think  that  Ganymedes  is  put 
for  the  temple  of  Jupiter. 

6  Advectse  Matris,  i.e.,  Cybele,  called  also  Parens  Idsea,  and  Numen 
Idaeum,  because  her  worship  was  introduced  into  Rome  from  Phrygia, 
A.u.c.  548,  after  the  Sibylline  books  had  been  consulted  as  to  the 
means  of  averting  certain  prodigies.  The  rude  and  shapeless  mass 
which  represented  the  goddess  was  lodged  in  the  house  of  P.  Corn. 
Scipio  Nasica,  as  the  most  virtuous  man  in  Rome.  Cf.  Sat.  iii.,  1^^7. 
Li  v.,  xxix.,  10.  A  temple  was  afterward  erected  for  her  on  the  Pala- 
tine Hill :  hence  palatia.  Secreta  alludes  to  the  abominable  orgies 
performed  in  her  honor. 


SATIRE  IX. 


125 


the  gods  ;  ay,  and  Ceres  too  (for  what  temple  is  there  in 
which  you  may  not  find  a  woman) — a  more  notorious  adul- 
terer even  than  Aufidius,  and  under  the  rose,  not  confining 
your  attentions  to  the  wives  ! 

Yes  :  even  this  way  of  life  is  profitable  to  many.  But  I 
never  made  it  worth  my  while  :  we  do  occasionally  get 
greasy  cloaks,  that  serve  to  save  our  toga,  of  coarse  texture 
and  indifferent  dye,  the  clumsy  workmanship  of  some 
French  weaver's  lay ;  or  a  small  piece  of  silver  of  inferior 
metal.  ^  The  Fates  control  the  destinies  of  men  :  nay,  there 
is  fate  even  in  those  very  parts  which  the  lap  of  the  toga 
conceals  from  view.  For  if  the  stars  are  unpropitious,  your 
manly  powers,  remaining  unknown,  will  profit  you  nothing, 
even  though  the  liquorish  Virro  has  seen  you  stripped,  and 
seductive  billets-doux,  closely  following  each  other,  are 
forever  assailing  you  :  for  such  a  fellow  as  he  even  entices 
others  to  sin.  Yet,  what  monster  can  be  worse  than  one 
miserly  as  well  as  effeminate  ?^  ^ '  I  gave  you  so  much,  then 
so  much,  and  then  soon  after  you  had  more  He  reckons 
up  and  still  acts  the  wanton.  Let  us  settle  our  accounts  ! 
Send  for  the  slaves  with  my  account-book  !  Reckon  up  five 
thousand  sesterces  in  all !  Then  count  up  your  services  !" 
Are  then  my  duties  so  light,  and  so  little  against  the 
grain  ?  Far  less  wretched  will  be  the  poor  slave  that  digs 
the  great  man's  land  !  But  you,  forsooth,  thought  yourself 
delicate,  and  young,  and  beautiful !  fit  to  be  a  cup-bearer  in 
heaven. 

Will  you  ever  bestow  favors  on  a  humble  dependent,  or  be 
generous  to  one  that  pays  you  court,  when  you  grudge  even 

1  Venseqzie  secundx.  "Silver  adulterated  wHh  brass  below  tbe 
standard;  in  short,  base  metAl." 

2  Mollis  avarus.    "  But  oh  !  this  wretch,  this  prodigy  behold  ! 

A  slave  at  once  to  lechery  and  gold."  Dryden. 


126 


JUVENAL. 


the  money  you  spend  on  your  unnatural^  gratifications? 
See  the  fellow  !  to  whom  you  are  to  send  a  present  of  a 
green  parasol  and  large  amber^  bowls,  as  often  as  his  birth- 
day comes  round,  or  rainy  spring  begins  ;  or  pillowed  on  his 
cushioned  sofa,  he  fingers  presents  set  apart  for  the  female 
Kalends  Tell  me,  you  sparrow,  for  whom  it  is  you  are 
keeping  so  many  hills,  so  many  Apulian*  farms,  so  many 
kites  wearied  in  flying  across  your  pastures  ?  Your  Trifoline 
estate^  enriches  you  with  its  fruitful  vines  ;  and  the  hill  that 
looks  down^  on  Cumse,  and  caverned  Gaurus.  Who  seals 
up  more"^  casks  of  wine  that  will  bear  long  keeping  ?  How 
great  a  matter  would  it  be  to  present  the  loins  of  your  client, 


1  Morbo.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  vi.,  30,  "Ut  si  qui  segrotet  quo  morbo 
Barrus." 

2  Succina.  Cf.  ad  vi.,  573.  The  old  Schol.  explains  this  by  "Gem- 
mata  Dextrccheria."  Grangseus  thinks  that  it  means  "presents  of 
amber,"  which  the  Roman  ladies  used  to  rub  in  their  hands.  So 
Badham : 

"  For  whom  the  cup  of  amber  must  be  found, 
Oft  as  the  birth  or  festal  day  comes  round." 

3  Fsemineis  Kalendis.  On  the  1st  of  March  were  celebrated  the  Ma- 
tronalia  in  honor  of  the  women  who  put  an  end  to  the  Sabine  war 
(bellum  dirimente  Sabine,  vi.,  154).  Cf.  Ov.,  Fast.,  iii.,  229.  On  this 
festival,  as  well  as  their  birthdays,  the  Roman  ladies  sat  up  in  state 
to  receive  presents  from  their  husbands,  lovers,  and  acquaintances 
(vid.  Suet.,  Vesp.,  19),  in  return  for  what  they  had  given  to  the  men 
on  the  Saturnalia.  Cf.  Mart.,  v.,  Ep.  Ixxxiv.,  10,  "Scis  certe  puto 
vestra  jam  venire  Saturnalia  Martias  Kalendas."  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  viii., 
1,  ''Martiis  cselebs  quid  agam  Kalendis." 

*  Appula.   Cf.  iv.,  27.  Milvos. 
"  Regions  which  such  a  tract  of  land  embrace, 
That  kites  are  tired  within  the  unmeasured  space."  Gififord. 

5  Trifolinus  ager.  Cf.  Mart.,  xiii.,  Ep.  114, "  Non  sum  de  primo 
fateor,  Trifolina,  Lyseo  ;  inter  vina  tamen  septima  vitis  ero."  Trifo- 
line wines  were  so  called  from  being  fit  to  drink  at  the  third  appear- 
ance of  the  leaf,  "quse  tertio  anno  ad  bibendum  tempestiva  forent." 
Plin.,  xiv.,  6.  Face,  takes  it  from  Trifolium,  a  mountain  in  Campa- 
nia, perhaps  near  Capua.    Plin..  iv.,  6. 

^  Suspectumque  jugurn.  Either  Mons  Misenus  (cf.  Virg.,  ^En.,  vi., 
234),  only  three  miles  from  Cumse,  or  Vesuvius,  which  was  famous 
for  its  wines.  Mart.,  iv.,  Ep.  44.  Virg.,  Georg.,  ii.,  224.  Gaurus,  now 
Monte  Barbaro,  is  full  of  volcanic  caverns.  It  is  also  called  "Gi- 
erro." 

7  Plurn. 

"  Though  none  drinks  less,  yet  none  more  vessels  fills !  "  Dryden. 


SATIRE  IX. 


127 


worn  out  in  your  service,  with  a  few  acres?  Would  yon 
rustic  child,  with  his  mother,  and  her  hovel,  ^  and  his  play- 
mate cur,  more  justly  become  the  inheritance  of  your  cym- 
bal-beating friend  ?  "  You  are  a  most  importunate  beggar  !  " 
he  says  :  But  Rent  cries  out  to  me  "Beg  !  "  My  only  slave 
calls  on  me  to  beg  !  loudly  as  Polyphemus^  with  his  one 
broad  eye,  by  which  the  crafty  Ulysses  made  his  escape.  I 
shall  be  compelled  to  buy  a  second,  for  this  one  is  not  enough 
for  me  ;  both  must  be  fed.  What  shall  I  do  in  mid-winter  ? 
When  the  chill  north  wind  whistles  in  December,^  what 
shall  I  say,  pray,  to  my  poor  slaves'  naked  feet  and  shoul- 
ders ?  ' '  Courage,*  my  boys!  and  wait  for  the  grasshoppers ? ' ^ 
But  however  you  may  dissemble  and  pass  by  all  other  mat- 
ters, at  how  much  do  you  estimate  it,  that  had  I  not  been 
your  devoted  client  your  wife  would  still  remain  a  maid  ? 
At  all  events,  you  know  all  about  those  services,  how  hard 
you  begged,  how  much  you  promised  !  Often  when  your 
young  wife  was  eloping,  I  caught  her  in  my  embrace.  She 
had  actually  torn^  the  marriage  contract,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  signing  a  new  one.    It  was  with  difficulty  that  I  set 

1  Casulis.   Cf.  xi.,  153,  "notes  desiderat  hsedos." 

'*  Sure  yonder  female  with  the  child  she  bred. 
The  dog  their  playmate,  and  their  little  shed, 
Had  with  more  justice  been  conferr'd  on  me, 
Than  on  a  cymbal-beating  debauchee."  Gifford. 

2  Polyphemi.  For'the  loudness  of  his  roar,  vid.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iii. .  672. 
The  meaning  seems  to  be,  "  I  am  as  badly  oflf  with  but  one  slave  as 
Polyphemus  was  with  only  one  eye:  had  he  had  two  Ulysses  would 
not  have  escaped  him."  Badham  takes  it  of  the  slave  calling  for 
food. 

•*  My  hungry  rascal  must  at  home  be  fed. 
Or  else,  like  Polypheme,  he'll  roar  for  bread!  " 

3  Decembri,  used  here  adjectively. 

*  Durate.  A  parody  on  Virg.,  ^n.,  i.,  207,  **  Durate,  et  vosmet  rebus 
servate  secundis."    Cf.  Suet.,  Cal.,  45. 

"  Cold !  never  mind !  a  month  or  two,  and  then 
The  grasshoppers,  my  lads,  will  come  again !  "  Badham. 
5  Ruperat.    Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  xi.,  80,  "  At  is  redderet  uxorem,  rumpe- 
retque  tabulas  niiptiales."   There  was  an  express  clause  in  the  mar- 
riage contract,  "  liberorum  procreandorum  gratia  uxorem  duci." 


128 


JUVENAL. 


this  matter  right  by  a  whole  night's  work,  while  you  stood 
whimpering  outside  the  door.  I  appeal  to  the  bed  as  my 
witness  !  nay,  to  yourself,  who  heard  the  noise,  and  the 
lady's  cries  !  In  many  a  house,  when  the  marriage  bonds 
were  growing  feeble  and  beginning  to  give  way,  and  were 
almost  severed,  an  adulterer  has  set  all  matters  right.  How- 
ever you  may  shift  your  ground,  whatever  services  you  may 
reckon  first  or  last,  is  it  indeed  no  obligation,  ungrateful  and 
perfidious  Dian  !  is  it  none,  that  you  have  an  infant  son  or 
daughter  born  to  you  through  me  ?  For  you  bring  them  up 
as  yours  !  and  plume  yourself  on  inserting  at  intervals  in 
the  public  registers^  these  evidences  of  your  virility.  Hang 
garlands^  on  your  doors  !  You  are  now  a  father  !  I  have 
given  you  what  you  may  cast  in  slander's  teeth  !  You  have 
a  father's  privileges  ;  through  me  you  may  inherit  a  legacy, 
yes,  the  whole  sum^  left  to  you,  not  to  mention  some  pleas- 

1  Libris  actor um.  Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  iii.,  3.  Sat.  ii.,  136,  "cupient  et  in 
acta  referri."  These  acta  were  public  registers,  in  which  parents 
were  obliged  to  insert  the  names  of  their  children  a  few  days  after 
their  birth.  They  contained,  besides,  records  of  marriages,  divorces, 
deaths,  and  other  occurrences  of  the  year,  and  were  therefore  of 
great  service  to  historians,  who  as  some  think  employed  persons  to 
read  them  up  for  them.  (Cf  acta  legenti  vii.,  104.)  Servius  Tullius 
instituted  this  custom.  The  records  were  kept  in  the  temple  of 
Saturn. 

2  Saspende  coronas.  This  was  customary  on  all  festive  occasions,  as 
here,  on  the  birth  of  a  child;  at  marriages  (vi.,  51,  "Necte  coronam 
postibus,  et  densos  per  limina  tende  corymbos  "),  the  return  of  friends 
(cf  xii,,  91,  "Longos  erexit  janua  ramos"),  or  any  public  rejoicing 
(as  X.,  65,  on  the  death  of  Sejanus,  "  Pone  domi  lauros  So,  when 
advocates  gained  a  cause,  their  clients  adorned  the  entrance  of  their 
houses  with  palm  branches.  Cf.  vii.,  118,  "  virides  scalarum  gloria 
palmse."  Mart.,  vii.,  Ep.  xxviii.,  6,  ''excolat  et  geminas  plurima 
palm  a  fores." 

3  Legatum  omne.  One  of  the  provisions  of  the  Lex  Papia  Poppfea 
(introduced,  at  the  desire  of  Augustus,  to  extend  the  Lex  Julia  de 
maritandis  ordinibus)  was,  that  if  a  married  person  had  no  child,  a 
tenth,  and  in  some  cases  a  larger  proportion,  of  what  was  bequeathed 
him,  should  fall  to  the  exchequer.  Cf.  vi.,  38.  It  conferred  also  cer- 
tain privileges  and  immunities  on  those  who  in  Rome  had  three 
children  (hence  jus  trium  liberorum)  born  in  wedlock.  Cf.  Ruperti 
and  Lips,  ad  Tac,  Ann.,  iii.,  25.  Cf.  Ann.,  xv.,  19.  Mart.,  ii.,  Ep.  xci., 
6 ;  ix.,  Ixvii. 


SATIRE  IX. 


129 


ant  windfall  !^  Besides  many  other  advantages  will  be  added 
to  these  windfalls,  if  I  make  the  number  complete  and  add 
a  third  ! 

"Your  ground  of  complaint  is  just  indeed,  Naevolus  ; 
what  does  he  allege  in  answer  ?' ' 

j  "  He  casts  me  off,  and  looks  out  for  some  other  two-legged 
ass  to  serve  his  turn  !  But  remember  that  these  secrets  are 
intrusted  to  you  alone  ;  keep  them  to  yourself,  therefore, 
buried  in  the  silence  of  your  own  breast ;  for  one  of  these 
pumice-smoothed^  fellows  is  a  deadly  thing  if  he  becomes 
your  enemy.  He  that  intrusted  his  secret  to  me  but  the 
other  day,  now  is  furious,  and  detests  me  just  as  though  I  had 
divulged  all  I  know.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  use  his  dagger, 
to  break  my  skull  with  a  bludgeon,  or  place  a  firebrand  at 
my  doors  :^  and  deem  it  no  light  or  contemptible  matter 
that  to  men  of  his  wealth  the  prite  of  poison  is  never  too 
costly.  Therefore  you  must  keep  my  secrets  as  religiously  as 
the  court  of  Mars  at  Athens.^' 

"Oh!  Corydon,*  poor  simple  Cory  don  !  Do  you  think 
aught  that  a  rich  man  does  can  be  secret?  Even  though 
his  slaves*  should  hold  their  tongues,  his  cattle  will  tell  the 
tale  ;  and  his  dogs,  and  door-posts,  and  marble  statues ! 
Close  the  shutters,  cover  all  the  chinks  with  tapestry,  fasten 
the  doors,  remove  every  light  from  the  chamber,^  let  each 
one  keep  his  counsel,  let  not  a  soul  lie  near.    Yet  what  he 

1  Cadiicum,  probably  a  legacy  contingent  upon  the  condition  of 
having  children. 

2  Pumice.  Cf.  viii.,  16,  ''tenerum  attritus  Catanensi  pumice  lum- 
bum." 

3  Valvis.    Cf.  xiii.  145,  seq. 

4  Corydo7i.  Cf.  Virg.,  Eel.,  ii.,  69,  "Ah,  Corydon,  Corydon,  quae  te 
dementia  cepit !"  and  56,  "  Rusticus  es,  Corydon !" 

5  Claude  fenestras. 

"  Bolt  every  door,  stop  every  cranny  tight, 
Close  every  window,  put  out  every  light ; 
Let  not  a  whisper  reach  the  listening  ear. 
No  noise,  no  motion— let  no  soul  be  near."  Giflford. 

6* 


13© 


JUVENAL. 


does  at  the  second  cock-crow,^  the  next  tavern-keeper  will 
know  before  dawn  of  day  ;  and  will  hear  as  well  all  the  fab- 
rications of  his  steward,  cooks,  and  carv^ers.^  For  what 
charge  do  they  scruple  to  concoct  against  their  masters,  as 
often  as  they  revenge  themselves  for  their  strappings^  by 
the  lies  they  forge  ?  Nor  will  there  be  wanting  one  to  hunt 
you  out  against  your  will  in  the  public  thoroughfares,  and 
pour  his  drunken  tale  into  your  miserable  ears.  Therefore 
ask  them  what  you  just  now  begged  of  me  !  They  hold 
their  tongues  !  Why  they  would  rather  blaze  abroad  a  se- 
cret than  drink  as  much  Falernian  (all  the  sweeter  because 
stolen)  as  Saufeia*  used  to  drink,  when  sacrificing^  for  the 
people  ! 

One  should  lead  an  upright  life  for  very  many  reasons ; 
but  especially  for  this — that  you  may  be  able  to  despise  your 
servants'  tongues.  For  bad  as  your  slave  may  be,  his  tongue 
is  the  worst  part  about  him.  Yet  far  worse  still  is  he  that 
places  himself  in  the  power  of  those  whose  body  and  soul 
he  keeps  together  with  his  own  bread  and  his  own  money.  ^ 

1  GaUicinium  was  the  technical  name  for  the  second  military  watch, 
Vid.  Face. 

2  Carptores,  Grangseus  explains  by  "  Escuiers  trench  ants."  Face, 
by  SatTpo?  and  structor. 

3  Baltea.   "  For  countless  scourgings  will  the  rogues  be  slack 

In  slanderous  villainies  to  pay  thee  back  ?"  Badham. 
^  Saufeia,  or  Laufella,  is  supposed  to  be  the  "  conjux  Fusci,"  men- 
tioned xii.,  45,  and  Mart.,  iii.,  Ep.  72;  and  whose  other  debaucheries 
are  mentioned  vi.,  320.  Cicero,  knowing  the  propensity  of  his  coun- 
try-women to  wine-bibbing,  would  exclude  them  from  officiating  at 
any  sacred  rites  (at  which  wine  was  always  used)  after  nightfall. 
The  festival  of  the  Bona  Dea  is  the  only  exception  he  would  make, 
"  Nocturna  mulierum  sacrificia  ne  sunto  prseter  olla  quae  pro  populo 
rite  fiant." 

5  Faciens;  so  operatur,  xii.,  92.  Virg.,  Eel.,  iii.,  77,  *•  Cum  faciam 
vitula  pro  fugibus  ipse  venito."  So  Georg.,  i.,  339,  "  Sacra  refer  Cereri 
laetis  operatis  in  herbis."  So  in  Greek,  pe^etv  is  constantly  used  abso- 
lutely. 

*'  For  more  stolen  wine  than  late  Saufeia  boused, 
When,  for  the  people's  welfare,  she  caroused !"  Gifford. 

6  Liber.   "  Yet  worse  than  they,  the  man  whose  vicious  deeds 

Makes  him  still  tremble  at  the  rogues  he  feeds."  Bad. 


SATIRE  IX. 


Well,  the  advice  you  have  just  given  me  to  enable  me  to 
laugh  to  scorn  mv  servants'  tongues  is  very  good,  but  too 
general.  Now,  what  do  you  advise  in  my  particular  case, 
after  the  loss  of  my  time  and  the  disappointment  of  my 
hopes  ?  For  the  short-lived  bloom^  and  contracted  span  of 
a  brief  and  wretched  life  is  fast  fleeting  away  !  While  we 
are  drinking,''^  and  calling  for  garlands,  and  perfumes,  and 
women,  old  age  steals  on  us  unperceived  !  Do  not  be 
alarmed  !  So  long  as  these  seven  hills  stand  fast  you  will 
never  lack  a  pathic  friend.  Those  effeminates,  who  scratch 
their  heads  with  one  finger,^  will  flock  from  all  quarters  to 
these  hills,  in  carriages  and  ships.  You  have  still  another 
and  a  better  hope  in  store.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  chew 
eringo  vigorously. ' '  ''Tell  this  to  luckier  wights!  My 
Clotlio  and  Lachesis  are  well  content,  if  I  can  earn  a  sub- 
sistence by  my  vile  labors.  Oh  !  ye  small  Lares,*  that  call 
me  master,  whom  I  supplicate  with  a  fragment  of  frankin- 
cense, or  meal,  and  a  poor  garland,  when  shall  I  secure^  a 
sum  that  may  insure  my  old  age  against  the  beggar's  mat 
and  crutch?  Twenty  thousand  sesterces  as  interest,  with 
good  security  for  the  principal ;  some  small  vessels  of  silver 
not  enchased,  but  such  as  Fabricius,^  if  censor,  would  con- 


Flosculus.  For  many  exquisite  parallel  passages  to  this,  see  Gif- 
ford's  note. 

2  Dum  bibimus, 

"  And  while  thou  call'st  for  garlands,  girls,  and  wine, 
Comes  stealthy  age,  and  bids  thee  all  resign."  Badham. 

3  Digito.  Eflfeminate  wretches,  who,  as  Holydays  says,  like  women, 
are  afraid  of  touching  their  heads  with  more  than  a  finger,  for  fear 
of  discomposing  their  curls.  Pompey  had  this  charge  brought  against 
him  by  one  Calvus  ;  and  cf.  Plut.  in  Vit.,48.  Amm.  Marcell,  XVII.,  xi. 

^  Lares,  cf.  xii.,  87.  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  xxiii.,  15,  "Parvos  coronantem 
marino  Rore  Deos,  fragilique  myrto."  Plin.,  xi.,  2,  "Numa  instituit 
deos  fruge  colere,  et  mola  salsa  supplicare  et  far  torrere." 

5  Figam,  a  metaphor  from  hunting. — Tegete,  cf.  v.,  8,  "  Nusquam 
pons  et  tegetis  pars."— i?acwto,  cf.  Ter.,  Heaut.,  V.,  i.,  58. 

6  C.  Fabricius  Luscinus,  when  censor,  removed  from  the  senate  P. 
Cornelius  Rufinus,  who  had  been  twice  consul  and  once  dictator,  for 


132 


JUVENAL. 


demn  ;  and  two  sturdy  Moesian  slaves,^  who,  bearing  me  on 
their  shoulders,  might  bid  me  stand  without  inconvenience 
in  the  noisy  circus  !  Let  me  have  besides  an  engraver 
stooping^  over  his  work,  and  another  who  may  with  all 
speed  paint^  me  a  row  of  portraits.  This  is  quite  enough— 
since  poor  I  ever  shall  be.  A  poor,  wretched  wish  indeed  !  / 
and  yet  I  have  no  hope  even  of  this  !  For  when  dame 
Fortune^  is  invoked  for  me,  she  stops  her  ears  with  wax 
fetched  from  that  ship  which  escaped  the  Sirens'  songs  with 
its  deaf  rower.. 


having  in  his  possession  more  than  ten  pounds'  weight  of  plate. 
Liv.,  Epit.,  xiv.   He  was  censor  a. u.c.  478.   Cf.  xi.,  90,  seg, 

^  Duo  fortes.  Persons  of  moderate  fortune  rode  in  their  sella  gesta- 
toria,  a  sedan  borne  by  two  persons.  The  rich  had  litters  or  palan- 
quins, called  hexaphori,  or  oetophori,  according  to  the  number  of 
the  lecticarii.  Cf.  i.,  64.  Moesia,  now  Bulgaria  and  Servia,  is  said  to 
have  been  famous  for  producing  these  brawny  chairmen. 

2  Curvus.  So  Lubinus  interprets  it.  *'Cum  enim  laborat  se  incur- 
vat."  Cf  Virg.,  Eccl.,  iii.,  42,  "  curvus  arator : "  so  Art.,  Am.,  ii.,  670, 
"Curva  senectus."  Or  from  his  assiduity,  '*  qui  assiduus  in  opere 
est."  Madan  says,  "  Curvus  means  crooked,  that  hath  turnings  and 
windings;  and  this  latter,  in  a  mental  sense,  denotes  cunning,  which 
is  often  used  for  skillfull  Cf.  Exod.,  xxxviii.,  23.  The  old  Schol.  ex- 
plains it  by  Anaglyptarius,  "a  carver  in  low  relief." 

3  Pingit.  Others  reeid  Jingit,  and  interpret  it  of  *'  plaster  casts."  It 
probably  refers  to  the  "  line  of  painted  busts"  to  deck  his  corridor, 
perhaps  of  fictitious  ancestors.  Cf.  viii.,  2,  "  Pictosque  ostendere  vul- 
tus  majorum." 

4  Fortuna. 

For  when  to  Fortune  I  prefer  my  prayers,  • 

The  obdurate  goddess  stops  at  once  her  ears  ; 

Stops  with  that  wax  which  saved  Ulysses'  crew, 

When  by  the  Syrens'  rocks  and  songs  they  flew."  Gifford. 


SATIRE  X. 

/ 


133 


SATIRE  X. 


ARGUMENT. 

The  subject  of  this  inimitable  Satire  is  the  vanity  of  human  wishes. 
From  the  principal  events  of  the  lives  of  the  most  illustrious  char- 
acters of  all  ages,  the  poet  shows  how  little  happiness  is  promoted 
by  the  attainment  of  what  our  indistinct  and  limited  views  repre- 
sent as  the  greatest  of  earthly  blessings.  Of  these  he  instances 
wealth,  power,  eloquence,  military  glory,  longevity,  and  personal 
accomplishments:  all  of  which,  he  shows,  have  proved  dangerous 
or  destructive  to  their  respective  possessors.  Hence  he  argues  the 
wisdom  of  acquiescing  in  the  dispensations  of  Heaven ;  and  con- 
cludes with  a  form  of  prayer,  in  which  he  points  out  with  great 
force  and  beauty  the  objects  for  which  a  rational  being  may  pre- 
sume to  approach  the  Almighty. 

In  all  the  regions  Avhich  extend  from  Gades^  even  to  the 
farthest  east  and  Ganges,  there  are  but  few^  that  can  dis- 
criminate between  real  blessings  and  those  that  are  widely 
different,  all  the  mist^  of  error  being  removed.  For  what  is 
there  that  we  either  fear  or  wish  for,  as  reason  would  direct? 
What  is  there  that  you  enter  on  under  such  favorable  aus- 
pices, that  you  do  not  repent  of  your  undertaking,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  your  wish  ?  The  too  easy  gods  have  over- 
thrown^ whole  families  by  granting  their  owners'  prayers. 
Our  prayers  are  put  up  for  what  will  injure  us  in  peace  and 


1  Gadibus.  Gades,  now  Cadiz,  and  Ganges  were  the  western  and 
eastern  boundaries  of  the  then  known  w^orld. 

2  Nebula.  Cf.  Plat.,  Alcib.,  ii.,  t^?  ^vxv^  a<j>€\6vTa  rrfv  ax\vv  ;  from 
which  many  ideas  in  this  Satire,  particularly  toward  the  close,  are 
borrowed. 

"  As  treacherous  phantoms  in  the  mist  delude, 
Shuns  fancied  ills,  or  chases  airy  good."   Johnson's  imitation. 

3  Evertere.  These  are  almost  Cicero's  own  words.  Cupiditates 
non  modo  singulos  homines  sed  universas familias  evertunt,'"  de  Fin., 
i.  Cf.  Shakspeare  : 

'*  We,  ignorant  of  ^ourselves, 
Beg  often  our  own  harms,  which  the  wise  powers 
Deny  us  for  our  good  :  so  find  we  profit 
By  losing  of  our  prayers." 


134  JUVENAL. 


injure  us  in  war.  To  many  the  copious  fluency^  of  speech, 
and  their  very  eloquence,  is  fatal.  It  was  owing  to  his 
strength^  and  wondrous  muscle,  in  which  he  placed  his 
trust,  that  the  Athlete  met  his  death.  But  money  heaped 
»up  with  overwhelming  care,  and  a  revenue  surpassing  all 
common  patrimonies  as  much  as  the  whale  of  Britain"^  ex- 
ceeds dolphins,  causes  more  to  be  strangled.  Therefore  it 
was,  that  in  that  reign  of  Terror,  and  at  Nero's  bidding,  a 
whole  cohorf*  blockaded  Longinus^  and  the  spacious  gardens 
of  the  over-wealthy  Seneca,^  and  laid  siege  to  the  splendid^ 
mansion  of  the  Laterani.^  It  is  but  rarely  that  the  soldier 
pays  his  visit  to  a  garret.  Though  you  are  conveying  ever 
so  few  vessels  of  unembossed  silver,  entering  on  your  jour- 
ney by  night,  you  will  dread  the  bandit's  knife  and  blud- 
geon, and  tremble  at  the  shadow  of  a  reed  as  it  quivers  in 


1  Torrens. 

"  Some  who  the  depths  of  eloquence  have  found, 
In  that  unnavigable  stream  were  drown'd."  Dryden. 

2  Virihus.  Roscommon,  as  GifFord  says,  tells  his  history  in  two 
lines ; 

"  Remember  Mile's  end, 
Wedged  in  the  timber  which  he  strove  to  rend." 
Cf  Ovid,  lb.,  609,  "  Utque  Milon  robur  diducere fissile  tentes,  necpos- 
sis  captas  inde  referre  manus." 

^  Balaena  Britannica.  Cf  Hor.,  iv.,  Od.  xiv..  47,  "  Te  helluosus  qui 
remotis  obstrepit  Oceanus  Britannis."  There  is  probably  an  allusion 
here  to  the  large  sums  which  Seneca  had  out  at  interest  in  Britain, 
where  his  rigor  in  exacting  his  demands  occasioned  a  rebellion. 

4  Tota  cohors.  "Illo  propinqua  vespera,  tribunus  venit,  et  villam 
globus  militum  sepsit."    Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,  60. 

5  Longinum.  Cassius  Longinus  was  charged  with  keeping  among 
his  Imagines  one  of  Cassius,  Csesar's  murderer  ;  and  allowed  an  hour 
to  die  in.   Suet.,  Ner.,  37. 

^  Seneca.  Rufus  and  Tigellinus  charged  Seneca ' '  tanquam  ingentes 
et  privatum  supra  modum  evectas  opes  adhuc  augeret— hortorum 
quoque  amgenitate  et  villarum  magnificentia  quasi  Principem  super- 
grederetur ;"  and  Seneca  himself,  in  his  speech  to  Nero,  says,  "  Tan- 
tum  honorum  atque  opum  in  me  cumulasti,  ut  nihil  felicitati  mese 
desit."    Tacit.,  Ann.,  xiv.,  52,  seq. 

7  Puri.    Cf  ix.,  141. 

8  Lateranorum..  Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,  60,  for  the  death  of  Plautius 
Lateranus.  His  house  was  on  the  Coelian  Hill,  on  the  site  of  the 
modern  Lateran. 


SATIRE  X. 


135 


the  moonshine.^  The  traveler  with  empty^  pockets  will 
sing  even  in  the  robber's  face. 

The  prayers  that  are  generally  the  first  put  up  and  best 
known  in  all  the  temples  are,  that  riches,^  that  wealth  may 
increase  ;  that  our  chest  may  be  the  largest  in  the  whole 
forum.*  But  no  aconite  is  drunk  from  earthenware.  It  is 
time  to  dread  it  when  you  quaff  jeweled  cups,^  and  the  ruddy 
Setine  blazes  in  the  broad  gold.  And  do  you  not,  then,  now 
commend  the  fact,  that  of  the  two  sages, ^  one  used  to  laugh' 
whenever  he  had  advanced  a  single  step  from  his  threshold  ; 
the  other,  with  sentiments  directly  contrary,  used  to  weep. 
But  easy  enough  to  any  one  is  the  stern  censure  of  a  sneer- 
ing laugh  :  the  wonder  is  how  the  other's  eyes  could  ever 
have  a  sufficient  supply  of  tears.  ^    Democritus  used  to  shake 


1  Motx  ad  Lunam.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  xxiii.,  3,  *'  Non  sine  vano  aura- 
rum  et  siluse  metu."  Stat.,  Theb.,  vi.,  158,  "  Impulsaeque  noto  frondes 
cassusque  valeret  exanimare  timor."  Claud.,  Eutrop.,  ii.,  452,  "  Ecce 
levis  frondes  a  tergo  concutit  aura  :  credit  tela  Leo  :  valuit  pro  vul- 
nere  terror." 

2  Vacuus.  Cf.  Ov.,  Nux.,  43,  "Sic  timet  insidias  qui  scit  se  ferre 
viator  cur  timeat,  tutum  carpit  inanis  iter."  Sen.,  Lucil.,  '*  Nudum 
Latro  transmittit." 

"While  void  of  care  the  beggar  trips  along. 
And,  in  the  spoiler's  presence,  trolls  his  song."  Gifford. 

3  Divitise.  Vid.  Cic,  '•  Expetuntur  Divitise  ut  utare ;  Opes  ut  colaris  : 
Honores  ut  lauderis."   De  Amicit.,  vi. 

4  Foro.  The  public  treasure  was  in  the  temple  of  Saturn.  Private 
individuals  had  their  money  in  str6ng  boxes  deposited  in  the  Forum 
Trajani,  or  Forum  Augusti;  in  the  temple  of  Mars  **Ultor"  origi- 
nally ;  afterward  in  the  temple  of  Castor  and  others,  probably  of  Pax. 
Cf.  xiv.,  259,  "  -^rata  multus  in  arc4  fiscus,  et  ad  vigilem  ponendi 
Cartora  nummi."  Cf.  Suet.,  Jul.,  x.  Pliny  the  Younger  was  once 
praefectus  serarii  Saturni. 

5  Oemmata.    Cf.  v.,  89,  il.—Setinum,  v.,  34. 

"Fear  the  gemm'd  goblet,  and  suspicious  hold 
The  ruby  juice  that  glows  in  cups  of  gold."  Badham. 
«  De  Sapientibus.  Democritusof  Abdera,  andHeracleitusofEphesus. 

7  Ridebat.  Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  i.,  194,  "  Si  foret  in  terris  rideret  Demo- 
critus." dciadai  [XOL  6ok£T  ^HpaKXeirov  n  ArjfiOKpLTOv^TOV  fxev  yeXacofxevov 
TTjv  avoiav  avrcov,  rov  Se  rhv  ayvoiav  dSvpofxevov.  LuC,  /St.  7rp.,  13,  tov 
yeXwpraj  tov  '  A^6rip6$£v  Kai  tov  KKaiovTa  tov  £|  'E0eo-oi^. 

8  "  The  marvel  this,  since  all  the  world  can  sneer, 

What  fountains  fed  the  ever-needed  tear."  Badham. 


136 


JUVENAL. 


his  sides  with  perpetual  laughter,  though  in  the  cities  of 
those  regions  there  were  no  prsetextse,  no  trabese,^  no  fasces, 
no  litter,  no  tribunal  !  What,  had  he  seen  the  praetor^ 
standing  pre-eminent  in  his  loftv  car,  and  raised  on  high  in 
the  mid  dust  of  the  circus,  dressed  in  the  tunic  of  J ove,  and 
wearing  on  his  shoulders  the  Tyrian  hangings  of  the  em- 
broidered toga  ;  and  the  circlet  of  a  ponderous  crown,  3  so 
heavy  that  no  single  neck  could  endure  the  weight  since 
the  official,  all  in  a  sweat,  supports  it,  and,  that  the  consul 
may  not  be  too  elated,  the  slave  rides  in  the  same  car. 
Then,  add  the  bird  that  rises  from  his  ivory  sceptre  :  on  one 
side  the  trumpeters  ;  on  the  other,  the  long  train  of  attendant 
clients,  that  march  before  him,  and  the  Quirites,  all  in  white 
togas,  walking  by  his  horses^  heads  ;  men  whose  friendship 
he  has  won  by  the  sportula  buried  deep  in  his  chest.  Even 
in  those  days  he  found  subject  for  ridicule  in  every  place 
where  human  beings  meet,  whose  wisdom  proves  that  men  of 
the  highest  intellect,  men  that  will  furnish  noble  examples, 
may  be  born  in  the  country  of  wether-sheep,  and  in  a  foggy^ 

1  Trahex.   Cf.  ad  viii.,  259. 

2  Prxtor.  Juvenal  has  mixed  up  together  the  procession  of  the 
praetor  to  open  the  Circensian  games,  and  a  triumphal  procession. 
The  latter  proceeded  through  the  principal  streets  to  the  Capitol. 
The  former,  from  the  Capitol  to  the  centre  of  the  circus.  The  tri- 
umphal car  was  in  the  shape  of  a  turret,  gilded,  and  drawn  by  four 
white  horses :  it  often  occurs  on  coins.  The  tunica  palmata,  worn 
by  generals  in  their  triumph,  was  kept  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter.  The 
toga  picta  was  purple,  and  so  heavily  embroidered  that  it  may  well 
be  compared  to  a  brocaded  curtain.  Tyre  was  anciently  called 
Sarra,  which  may  be  traced  in  its  modern  name  Sur. 

"  His  robe  a  ponderous  curtain  of  brocade, 
Inwrought  and  stiff  by  Tyrian  needles' aid."  Badham. 

3  Orhem.    Probably  an  allusion  to  Atlas. 

4  Sufficit. 

"And  would  have  crush'd  it  with  the  massy^  freight. 
But  that  a  sweating  slave  sustain'd  the  weight."  Dryden. 
Probably  the  crown  was  not  worn,  but  merely  held  by  the  slave  at 
his  side. 

"  The  menial  destined  in  his  car  to  ride, 
And  cool  the  swelling  consul's  feverish  pride."  Hodgson, 
s  Crasso.    "Boeotum  in  crmvso  jurares  aere  natum."   Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  1. 


SATIRE  X. 


137 


atmosphere.  He  used  to  laugh  at  the  cares  and  also  the 
joys  of  the  common  herd  ;  sometimes  even  at  their  tears  : 
while  he  himself  would  bid  Fortune,  when  she  frowned, 
"Go  hang  !"  and  point  at  her  his  finger^  in  scorn  !  Super- 
fluous therefore,  or  else  destructive,  are  all  those  objects  of 
our  prayers,  for  which  we  think  it  right  to  cover  the  knees 
of  the  gods  with  waxen  tablets.  ^ 

Power,  exposed  to  great  envy,  hurls  some  headlong  down 
to  ruin.  The  long  and  splendid  list  of  their  titles  and 
honors  sinks^  into  the  dust.  Down  come  their  statues,^  and 
are  dragged  along  with  ropes  :  then  the  weary  wheels  of  the 
chariot  are  smashed  by  the  vigorous  stroke  of  the  axe,  and 
the  legs  of  the  innocent^  horses  are  demolished.  Now  the 
fires  roar !  Now  that  head,  once  worshiped*  by  the  mob, 
glows  with  the  bellows  and  the  furnace  !  Great  Sejanus 
crackles  !  Then  from  that  head,  second  only  in  the  whole 
wide  world,  are  made  pitchers,  basins,  frying-pans,^  and 

244.  Boeotia  was  called  the  land  of  fogs,  which  so  much  annoyed 
Pindar.  Vid.  OL,  vi.,  152.  Abdera  seems  to  have  had  as  bad  a  name. 
Cf.  Mart.,  X.,  Ep.  xxv.,  3,  "Abderitanse  pectora  plebis  habes." 

1  Medium  unguem.  Hence  called  "Infamis  digitus."  Pers.,  ii.,  33. 
Cf.  Mart.,  ii.  Ep.,  xxviii.,  2,  "digitum  porrigito  medium."  VI.,  Ep. 
Ixx.,  5,  "  Ostendit  digitum  impudicum." 

2  Incerare.  They  used  to  fasten  their  vows,  written  on  wax  tablets, 
to  the  knees  or  thighs  of  the  gods.  When  their  wishes  were  granted, 
these  were  replaced  by  the  offerings  they  had  vowed.  Cf.  Hom.,  II., 
p.,  514,  d^eojv  ev  yovvaaL  Ketrai. 

8  Mergit.  Cf.  Sil.,  viii.,  285;  or  mergit  may  be  used  actively,  as  xiii., 
8.   Lucr.,  v.,  1006.    Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  512. 

4  Statuse.  Cf.  ad  vii„  18.  Tac,  Ann.,  vi.,  2.  Plin.,  Pan.,  52,  "  Ju- 
vabat  illidere  solo  superbissimos  vultus,  instare  ferro,  sasvire  securibus, 
ut  si  singulos  ictus  sanguis  dolorque  sequeretur  " — "  instar  ultionis 
videretur  cernere  imagines  abjectas  excoctasque  flammis." 

5  Immeritis.    *'  The  driven  axe  destroys  the  conquering  car, 

And  unoffending  steeds  the  ruin  share."  Hodgson. 

^  Adoratum.  Cf.  Tac,  Ann.,  iii.,  72;  iv.,  2,  "Coli  per  theatra  et  fora 
effigies  ejus  sineret.  Vid.  Suet.,  Tib.,  Iv.,  48,  "  Solse  nullam  Sejani 
imaginem  inter  signa  coluissent."  65,  "  Sejani  imagines  aureas  coli 
passim  videret." 

">  Sartago. 

"And  from  the  stride  of  those  colossal  legs 
You  buy  the  useful  pan  that  fries  your  eggs."  Badham. 
Dryden  reads  "  matellse." 


138 


JUVENAL. 


platters  1  Crown  your  doors  with  bays  !^  Lead  to  Jove's 
Oapitol  a  huge  and  milk-white  ox  !  Sejanus  is  being  dragged 
along  by  the  hook  !  a  glorious  sight !"  Every  body  is  de- 
lighted. ^'What  lips  he  had!  and  what  a  face?  If  you 
believe  me,  I  never  could  endure  this  man  !"  **But  what 
was  the  charge  under  which  he  fell  !  Who  was  the  accuser? 
what  the  information  laid  ?  By  whose  witness  did  he  prove 
it?"  "Nothing  of  the  sort!  a  wordy  and  lengthy  epistle 
came  from  Caprese."  "That's  enough!  I  ask  no  farther. 
But  how  does  the  mob  of  Kemus  behave  !  "  "  Why,  follow 
Fortune,^  as  mobs  always  do,  and  hate  him  that  is  con- 
demned?" That  self -same  people,  had  Tuscan  Nurscia"^ 
smiled  propitious  on  her  countryman — had  the  old  age  of 
the  emperor  been  crushed  while  he  thought  all  secure — • 
would  in  that  very  hour  have  saluted  Sejanus  as  Augustus. 
Long  ago  they  have  thrown  overboard  all  anxiety.  For 
that  sovereign  people  that  once  gave  away  military  com- 
mand, consulships,  legions,  and  every  thing,  now  bridles  its 
desires,  and  limits  its  anxious  longings  to  two  things  only — 
bread,  and  the  games  of  the  circus  !  "I  hear  that  many  are 
involved  in  his  fall."  "No  doubt  :  the  little  furnace*  is  a 
capacious  one ;  I  met  my  friend  Brutidius^  at  the  altar  of 

1  Pone  domi  lauros.   Cf.  ad  ix.,  85. 

2  Sequitur  Fortunam. 

"  When  the  king's  trump,  the  mob  are  for  tht;  king."  Dryden. 

3  Nurscia,  Nyrtia,  Nortia,  or  Nurtia,  the  Etruscan  goddess  of  For- 
tune, nearly  identical  with  Atropos,  and  cognate  with  Minerva.  The 
oldSchol.  says,  "  Fortuna  apud  Nyrtiam  colitur  unde  fuit  Sejanus." 
But  Tacitus  tells  us  (Ann  ,  iv.,  1 ;  vi.,  8)  that  Sejanus  was  a  native  of 
Volsinii,  now  Bolsena.  Outside  the  Florence  gate  of  Bolsena  stands 
the  ruin  of  a  temple  still  called  Tempio  di  Norzia.  Cf.  Liv.,  vii.,  3 ; 
Tertull.,  Apoll.,  24,  ad  Nat.,  ii.,  8;  Miiller's  Etrusker,  IV.,  vii.,  6; 
Dennis's  Etruria,  i.,  p.  258,  509. 

^Fornacula.    "  A  fire  so  fierce  for  one  was  scarcely  made."  Giflford. 

5  Brutidius.  Tacitus  speaks  thus  of  him :  "  Brutidiuni  artibus. 
honestis  copiosum  et,  si  rectum  iter  pergeret,  ad  clarissima  quaeque 
iturum  festinatio  exstimulabat,  dum  sequales,  dein  superiores,  pos- 
tremo  suasraet  ipse  spes  anteire  parat."  Ann.,  iii.,  66.  He  had  been 
one  of  the  accusers  of  Silanus,  and  was  involved  in  Sejanus'  falL 


SATIRE  X. 


139 


Mars  looking  a  little  pale  !  "  ''But  I  greatly  fear  that  Ajax, 
being  baffled,  ^  will  wreak  fearful  vengeance,  as  having  been 
inadequately  defended.  Let  us  rush  headlong  ;  and,  while 
he  still  lies  on  the  river-bank,  trample  on  Caesar's  foe?  But 
,  take  care  that  our  slaves  witness  the  act !  lest  any  of  them 
should  deny  it,  and  drag  his  master  to  trial  with  a  halter 
round  his  neck  ! ' '  Such  were  the  conversations  then  about 
Sejanus  ;  such  the  smothered  whispers  of  the  populace? 
Would  you  then  have  the  same  court  paid  to  you  that  Seja- 
nus had  ?  possess  as  much,  bestow  on  one  the  highest  curule 
honors,  give  another  the  command  of  armies,^  be  esteemed 
the  lawful  guardian^  of  the  prince  that  lounged  away*  his 
days  with  his  herd  of  Chaldean  astrologers,  in  the  rock  of 
Caprese  that  he  made  his  palace  ?^  Would  you  have  centu- 
ries and  cohorts,  and  a  picked  body  of  cavalry,^  and  prae- 
torian bands  at  your  beck  ?    Why  should  you  not  covet 

"Magna  est  fornacula"  is  well  borne  out  by  Tacitus'  account. 
"Cunctos  qui  carcere  attinebantur,  accusati  societatis  cum  Sejano, 
necarijubet.  Jacuit  immensa  strages;  omnis  sexus  omnis  setas :  in- 
lustres  ignobiles— corpora  adsectabantur  dum  in  Tiberim  traheren- 
tur."    Ann.,  vi.,  19. 

1  Victus.  Fierce  as  Ajax,  when  worsted  in  the  contest  for  the  arms 
of  Achilles. 

2  Exercit  bus  prseponere.  V^id.  Tac,  Ann.,  iv.,  2,  Centuriones  ac 
Tribunos  ipse  deligere  :  neque  senatorio  ambitu  abstinebat  clientes 
suos  honoribus  aut  provinciis  ornando,  facili  Tiberio  atque  ita  prono 
ut  socium  laborum  celebraret." 

3  Tvior.  "Arraign 

Thy  feeble  sovereign  in  a  guardian's  strain, 
Who  sits  amid  his  foul  Chaldsean  herd 
In  that  august  domain  to  Rome  preferr'd."  Badham. 
*  Sedentis.    Cf.  Suet.,  Tib.,  43;  Tac,  Ann.,  vi.,  1.   Grangseus  sup- 
j,oses  this  word  to  have  reference  to  the  Sellaria  there  described.  It 
probably  only  refers  to  his  luxury  and  indolence.   Tiberius  was  with 
Augustus  when  he  visited  Caprese  shortly  before  his  death :  "  re- 
misissimo  ad  otium  et  ad  omnem  comitatem  animo.   Vicinam  Ca- 
preis  insulam  aTrpayoiroKiv  appellabat  a  desidia  secedentium  illuc  e 
comitatu  suo."    Cf.  c.  40.  Tac,  Ann.,  iv.,  67. 

^  Augusta.  The  old  reading  was  angusta,  The  alteration  of  a  sin- 
gle letter  converts  a  forceless  expletive  into  an  epithet  full  of  pictur- 
esque and  historic  truth. 

5  Egregios  equites.  The  flower  of  the  Roman  army,  the  praetorian 
troops,  of  which  Sejanus  was  praefect. 


I40 


JUVENAL. 


these  ?  Even  those  who  have  not  the  idll  to  kill  a  man  would 
gladly  have  the  power.  But  what  brilliant  or  prosperous 
fortune  is  of  sufficient  worth  that  your  measure  of  evils 
should  balance  your  good  luck  ?  Would  you  rather  put  on 
the  praetexta  of  him  that  is  being  dragged  along,  or  be  the 
magistrate  of  Fiden^e  or  Gabii,  and  give  sentence  about  false 
weights,^  and  break  up  scanty  measures  as  the  ragged  sedile 
of  the  deserted  Ulubrae  ?^  You  acknowledge,  therefore,  that 
Sejanus  did  not  know  what  ought  to  have  been  the  object 
of  his  wishes.  For  he  that  coveted  excessive  honors,  and 
prayed  for  excessive  wealth,  was  but  rearing  up  the  multi- 
plied stories  of  a  tower  raised  on  high,  only  that  the  fall 
might  be  the  deeper,^  and  horrible  the  headlong  descent  of 
his  ruin*  once  accelerated  ! 

What  overthrew  the  Crassi  ?^  and  Pompey  and  his  sons?* 
and  him  that  brought  Rome's  haughty  citizens  quailing'  be- 
neath his  lash  ?  Surely  it  was  the  post  of  highest  advance- 
ment, reached  by  every  possible  device,  and  prayers  for 

1  Vasa  minora. 

"  To  pound  false  weights  and  scanty  measures  break."  Dryden. 

2  Ulubris.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  xi.,  30,  "  Est  Ulubris,  animus  si  non  tibi 
deficit  sequus."  Another  joke  at  the  expense  of  the  plebeian  aediles 
(cf.  iii. ,  162),  who  had  the  charge  of  inspecting  weights  and  meas- 
ures, markets  and  provisions,  roads,  theatres,  etc.  These  function- 
aries still  exist  (as  Gifford  says),  "as  ragged  and  consequential"  as 
ever,  in  the  Italian  villages,  retaining  their  old  name  of  Podesta. 

"  Deal  out  the  law,  and  curb  with  high  decree 
The  tricks  of  trade  at  empty  Ulubrse."  Hodgson. 

3  Altior.  The  idea  is  probably  borrowed  from  Menander,  eTratperat 
•yap  jaet^ov,  'iva  /nei^ov  TreVT].  So  hence  Horace.  ii.,  Od.  X.,  10,  "Celsae 
graviore  casu  decidunt  turres."  So  Claudian  in  Rufin,  i.,22,  *'Tol- 
luntur  in  altum  ut  lapsu  graviore  ruant ; "  and  Shakspeare,  **  Raised 
up  on  high  to  be  hurl'd  down  below." 

*  Ruinx.   So  Milton.    '*  With  hideous  ruin  and  combustion  down." 

C.  Badham. 

5  Crassos.  M.  Licinius  Crassus  and  his  son  Publius  ;  both  killed  in 
the  Parthian  war. 

6  Pompeios.  Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus,  and  his  two  sons,  Cnseus  and 
Sextus. 

7  Dc/mitos. 

"  The  stubborn  pride  of  Roman  nobles  broke. 
And  bent  their  haughty  necks  beneath  his  yoke."  Dryden. 


SATIRE  X. 


141 


greatness  heard  by  gods  who  showed  their  malignity  in 
granting  them  !  Few  kings  go  down  without  slaughter  and 
wounds  to  Ceres'  son-in-law.  Few  tyrants  die  a  bloodless 
death  I 

He  that  as  yet  pays  court  to^  Minerva,  purchased  by  a 
single  as,  that  is  followed  by  his  little  slave'^  to  take  charge 
of  his  diminutive  satchel,  begins  to  long,  and  longs  through 
all  his  quinquatrian^  holidays,  for  the  eloquence  and  the 
renown  of  Demosthenes  or  Cicero.  But  it  was  through  their 
eloquence  that  both  of  these  orators  perished  :  the  copious 
and  overflowing  fount  of  talent  gave  over  each  to  destruc- 
tion ;  by  talent  was  his  hand  and  head  cut  off  !  Nor  did 
the  Rostra*  ever  reek  with  the  blood  of  a  contemptible 
pleader. 

fortunate  Kome,  whose  natal  day  may  date  from  me 


1  Colit.  Ov.,  Fast.,  iii.,  816,  "Qui  ben^  placarit  Pallada  doctus 
erit." 

2  Vernula.  This  slave  was  called  Capsarius.  Suet.,  Ner.,  36.  Cf. 
ad  vi.,  451. 

3  Quinquatrihus.  Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  ii.,  197,  "  Puer  ut  festis  quinqua- 
tribus  olim."  This  festival  originally  lasted  only  OTie  day;  and  was 
celebrated  xiv.  Kal.  April.  It  was  so  called  "  quia  post  diem  quintum 
Idus  Martias  ageretur."  So  "post  diem  sextum,"  was  called 
Sexatrus  ;  and  "post  diem  septimum,"  Septimatrus.  Varro,  L. 
L.,  v.,  3.  It  was  afterward  extended  to  five  days;  hence  the  "val- 
gus" supposed  that  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  name;  and 
so  Ovid  takes  it,  "Nominaque  a  junctis  quinque  diebus  habet," 
Fast.,  iii.,  809;  who  says  it  was  kept  in  honor  of  Minerva's  natal 
day,  "Causa  quod  est  ilia  nata  Minerva  die,"  1.  812.  (Others  say, 
because  on  that  day  her  temple  on  Mount  Aventine  was  conse- 
crated.) Domitian  kept  the  festival  in  great  state  at  his  Alban  villa. 
Suet.,  Domit.,  iv.  Cicero  has  a  punning  allusion  to  it.  Vid.  Fam., 
xii.,  25.  These  five  days  were  the  schoolmasters'  holidays ;  and  on 
the  first  they  received  their  pay,  or  entrance  fee,  StSa/crpa,  hence 
called  Minerval;  though  Horace  seems  to  imply  they  were  paid 
every  month,  "Octonis  referentes  Idibus  sera."  I.,  Sat.  vi.,  75.  The 
lesser  Quinquatrus  were  on  the  Ides  of  June.  Ov.,  Fast.,  vi.,  651, 
"Quinquatrus  jubeor  narrare  minores,"  called  also  Quinquatrus 
Minusculase. 

4  Rostra.  Popilius  Lenas,  who  cut  ofi"  Cicero's  head  and  hands,  car- 
ried them  to  Antony,  who  rewarded  him  with  a  civic  crown  and  a 
large  sum  of  money,  and  ordered  the  head  to  be  fixed  between  the 
hands  to  the  Rostra.   (For  the  name,  vid.  Liv.,  viii.,  14.) 


142 


JUVENAL. 


as  consul !  "  He  might  have  scorned  the  swords  of  Antony,^ 
had  all  he  uttered  been  such  trash  as  this.  I  had  rather 
write  poems  that  excite  only  ridicule,  than  thee,  divine 
Philippic  of  distinguished  fame  !  that  art  unrolled  next  to 
,the  first !  Cruel  was  the  end  that  carried  him  off  also  whom 
Athens  used  to  admire  as  his  words  flowed  from  his  lips  in  a 
torrent'^  of  eloquence,  and  he  swayed  at  will  the  passions  of 
the  crowded  theatre.  With  adverse  gods  and  inauspicious 
fate  was  he  born,  whom  his  father,  blear-eyed  with  the 
grime  of  the  glowing  mass,  sent  from  the  coal,  and  pincers,^ 
and  the  sword-forging  anvil,  and  sooty  Vulcan,*  to  the 
rhetorician's  school ! 

The  spoils  of  war,  the  cuirass  fastened  to  the  truncated^ 
trophy,  the  check-piece  hanging  from  the  battered  helm,  the 
car  shorn  of  its  pole,  the  streamer  of  the  captured  galley,^ 
and  the  sad  captive  on  the  triumphal  arch- top,''  are  held  to 

1  Antonz  Gladios.  Quoting  Cicero's  own  words,  "Contempsi  Cati- 
linse  gladios,  non  pertimescam  tuos."   Phil.,  ii.,  46. 

*'  For  me,  the  sorriest  rhymes  I'd  rather  claim. 
Than  bear  the  brunt  of  that  Phillippic's  fame, 
The  second!  the  divine  ! "  Badham. 

2  Torrentem.  So  i.,  9,  "  Torrens  dicendi  copia  ;  "  iii.,  74,  Isseo  tor- 
rentior."  At  the  approach  of  Antipater,  Demosthenes  fled  from 
Athens,  and  took  refuge  in  the  temple  of  Poseidon  at  Calaureia,  near 
Argolis  ;  and  fearing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Archias,  took  poison, 
which  he  carried  about  with  him  in  a  reed,  or,  as  Pliny  says,  in  a 
ring,  xxxiii.,  i. 

3  Forcipibus.  Cf  Virg.,  ^n.,  viii.,  453,  *' Versantque  tenaci  forcipe 
massam."   Juvenal  seems  to  have  had  the  whole  passage  in  his  eye. 

^  Vulcano.  Demosthenes'  father  was  a  /aaxatpoTroto?  ;  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  employed  a  large  number  of  slaves,  ipyaari^pLov  ix^^v  ixexa 
Kal  SovAovs  Tex^tTa?.  But  as  he  could  not  afford  to  place  his  son  under 
the  costly  Isocrates,  he  sent  him  to  Isseus. 

5  Truncis.    Virg.  ^n.,  xi.,  5. 

Ingentem  quercum  decisis  undique  ramis 
Constituit  tumulo,  fulgentiaque  induit  arma, 
Mezenti  ducis  cxuvias,  tibi  magne  tropxum 
Bellipotens :  aptat  rorantes  sanguine  cristas 
Telaque  trunca  viri, 

6  Aplustre,  the  a^Aao-xoj/  ot  the  Greeks  was  the  high  peak  of  the  gal- 
ley, from  which  rose  the  ensign. 

7  Arcu.  Cf.  Suet.,  Domit.,  13,  Janos  arcusque  cum  quadrigis  et 
insignibus  triumphorum  per  regiones  urbis  tantos  et  tot  exstruxit,ut 


SATIRE  X. 


143 


be  goods  exceeding  all  human  blessings.  For  these  each 
general,  Koman,  or  Greek,  or  Barbarian,  strains  as  his  prize  ! 
Full  compensation  fox  his  dangers  and  his  toils  he  sees  in 
these !  So  much  greater  is  the  thirst  after  fame  than  virtue. 
For  who  would  embrace^  virtue  herself,  if  you  took  away  the 
rewards  of  virtue?  And  yet,  ere  now,  the  glory  of  a  few 
has  been  the  ruin  of  their  native  land  ;  that  longing  for  re- 
nown, and  those  inscriptions  that  are  to  live  on  the  marble 
that  guards  their  ashes ;  and  yet  to  burst  asunder  this,  the 
mischievous  strength  of  the  barren  fig-tree  has  power  enough. 
Since  even  to  sepulchres^  themselves  are  fates  assigned. 
Weighs  the  remains  of  Hannibal !  How  many  pounds  will 
you  find  in  that  most  consummate  general !  This  is  the  man 
whom  not  even  Africa,  lashed  by  the  Mauritanian  ocean,  and 
stretching  even  to  the  steaming  Nile,  and  then  again  to  the 
races  of  the  ^thiopes  and  their  talP  elephants,  can  contain  ! 
Spain  is  annexed  to  Carthage's  domain.  He  bounds  across 
the  Pyrenees.  Nature  opposed  in  vain  the  Alps  with  all 
their  snows  ;  he  cleaves  the  rocks  and  rives  the  mountains 
with  vinegar.^  Now  he  is  lord  of  Italy  !  Yet  still  he  presses 


cuidam  Grsec^  inscriptum  sit,  apx-et— Some  think  there  is  an  allu- 
sion here  to  the  column  of  Trajan,  erected  in  honor  of  his  Dacian 
victories.  This  would  bring  down  the  date  of  this  Satire  to  after 
A.D.  113. 

1  Amplectitur.   "  That  none  confess  fair  Virtue's  genuine  power, 

Or  woo  her  to  their  breast  without  a  dower." 

Gifford. 

2  Sepulchris;  from  Propertius,  III.,  ii.,  19,  seq.  So  Ausonius,  "Mors 
etiam  saxis,  nominibusque  venit." 

"  For  fate  hath  foreordain'd  its  day  of  doom, 
Not  to  the  tenant  only,  but  the  tomb."  Badham. 

3  Expende.    "  How  are  the  mighty  changed  to  dust !  how  small 

The  urn  that  holds  what  once  was  Hannibal !" 

Hodgson. 

*  Altos;  others  read  alios;  referring  to  the  elephants  of  Africa  as 
well  SLS  Asia.  "Elephantos  fert  Africa,  ferunt  ^thiopes  et  Troglo- 
dytae  :  sed  maximos  India."    Plin.,  viii.,  11. 

^  Aceto.  Vid.  Liv.,  xxi..  37.  Polybius  omits  the  story  as  fabulous. 
There  appears,  now,  no  reason  to  doubt  the  fact. 


144 


JUVENAL. 


on.  Naught  is  achieved,"'  he  says,  '^unless  we  burst 
through  the  gates  of  Rome  with  the  soldiery  of  Carthage, 
and  I  plant  my  standard  in  the  heart  of  the  Suburra  Oh 
what  a  face  l'^  and  worthy  what  a  picture  !  when  the  huge 
Gaetulian  beast  bore  on  his  back  the  one-eyed^  general ! 
What  then  was  the  issue  ?  Oh  glory  !  This  self-made  man 
is  conquered,  and  flees  with  head-long  haste  to  exile,  and 
there,  a  great  and  much-to-be-admired  client,  sits  at  the  pal- 
ace of  the  king,  until  his  Bithynian  majesty*  be  pleased  to 
wake  !  To  that  soul,  that  once  shook  the  very  world's  base, 
it  is  not  sword,  nor  stone,  nor  javelin,  that  shall  give  the 
final  stroke  ;  but,  that  which  atoned  for  Cannae,  and  avenged 
such  mighty  carnage,^  a  ring!  Go  then,  madman,  and 
hurry  over  the  rugged  Alps,  that  you  may  be  the  delight  of 
boys,  and  furnish  subjects  for  declamations  !^ 

One*^  world  is  not  enough  for  the  youth  of  Pella !  He 

1  Actum.     Nil  actum  referens  si  quid  superesset  agendum." 

"  Peace  courts  his  hand,  but  spreads  her  charms  in  vain; 
*  Think  nothing  gain'd,'  he  cries,  *  till  naught  remain ; 
On  Moscow's  walls  till  Gothic  standards  fly, 
And  all  be  mine  beheath  the  polar  sky.' "  Johnson. 

2  Fades. 

"  Oh !  for  some  master-hand,  the  lines  to  trace."  Gifford. 

3  iMscum.  Hannibal  lost  one  ey^,  while  crossing  the  marshes,  in 
making  his  way  to  Etruria;  "quiamedendi  nec  locus  nec  tempus 
erat  altero  oculo  capitur  ;"  he  rode,  Livy  tells  us,  on  his  sole  surviv- 
ing elephant,  xxii.,  2. 

4  Bithyno.  When  accused  by  the  Romans  at  Carthage,  Hannibal 
fled  to  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  and  thence  to  the  court  of  Prusias, 
king  of  Bithynia,  for  whom  he  carried  on  successfully  the  war 
against  Eumenes.  But  when  Flaminius  was  sent  to  demand  his  sur- 
render, he  destroyed  himself  with  poison,  which  he  always  carried 
in  a  ring. 

5  Sanguinis.  Forty-flve  thousand  dead  were  left  on  the  field  of 
Cannse,  with  the  Consul  ^Emilius  Paulus,  eighty  senators,  and  very 
many  others  of  high  rank. 

6  Declamatio.  Cf.  vii.,  167,  "  Sextaquaque  die  miserum  dirus  caput 
Hannibal  implet."    So  1. 150,  and  i.,  15. 

"Go  climb  the  rugged  Alps,  ambitious  fool! 
To  please  the  boys,  and  be  a  theme  at  school."  Dryden. 
Unus.   "  Heu  me  miserum !  quod  ne  uno  quidem  adhuc  potitus 
sum!"  is  the  exclamation  put  into  Alexander's  mouth  by  Val., 
Max.,  viii.,  14. 


SATIRE  X. 


145 


chafes  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  universe,  poor  soul,  as 
though  confined  in  Gyarus'l  small  rock,  or  scanty  Seriphos. 
Yet  when  he  shall  have  entered  the  city  that  the  brick- 
makers^  fortified,  he  will  be  content  with  a  sarcophagus 
Death  alone  discloses  how  very  small  are  the  puny  bodies  of 
men  !  Men  do  believe  that  Athos  was  sailed  through  of 
yore  ;  and  all  the  bold  assertions  that  lying  Greeks  hazard 
in  history — that  the  sea  was  bridged  over  by  the  same  fleets, 
and  formed  into  a  solid  pavement  for  the  transit  of  wheels. 
We  believe  that  deep  waters  failed,  and  streams  were  druuk 
dry*  when  the  Persian  dined  ;  and  that  all  the  flights  of  Sos- 
tratus'^  song,  when  his  wings  are  moistened  by  the  god  of 

1  Gyaris.    Cf.  i.,  73;  vi.,  563. 

2  Piaulis.  Cf.  Herod.,  i„  78.  Ov.,  Met.,  iv.,  27,  " Ubi  dicitur  altam 
Coctilibus  muris  cinxisse  Semiramis  urbem." 

3  Sarcophago.  A  stone  was  found  at  Assos,  near  Troy,  which  was 
said  to  possess  the  property  of  consuming  the  flesh  of  bodies  inclosed 
in  it  within  the  space  of  forty  days,  hence  called  (TapKo(l)dyo^.  Plin,, 
ii.,  96 ;  xxxvi.,  17.   Cf.  Henry's  speech  to  Hotspur's  body  : 

"  Ill-weaved  ambition,  how  much  art  thou  shrunk ! 
When  that  this  body  did  contain  a  spirit, 
A  kingdom  for  it  was  too  small  a  bound  ; 
But  now,  two  paces  of  the  vilest  earth 
Is  room  enough," 
So  Hall:   "Fond  fool!  six  feet  shall  serve  for  all  thy  store, 
And  he  that  cares  for  most  shall  find  no  more." 
And  Shirley : 

"  How  little  room  do  we  take  up  in  death, 
That,  living,  knew  no  bounds ! " 
And  Webster's  Duchess  of  Malfy  : 

"  Much  you  had  of  land  and  rent : 
Your  length  in  clays 's  now  competent." 
So  K.  Henry  VI.:  "  And  of  all  my  lands 

Is  nothing  left  me  but  my  body's  length." 
And  Dryden's  Antony : 

"  The  place  thou  pressest  on  thy  mother  Earth 
Is  all  thy  empire  now." 
Cf.  ^sch.,  S.  Theb.,  731.   Soph.,  CEd.  Col.,  789.   Shakspeare's  Rich- 
ard II.,  Act.  iii.,  sc.  2. 

4  Epota.  Herodotus  mentions  the  Scamander,  Onochnous,  Apida- 
nus,  and  Echedorus. 

"  Rivers,  whose  depth  no  sharp  beholder  sees. 
Drunk  at  an  army's  dinner  to  the  lees  ! "  Dryden. 

5  Sostratus.  Of  this  poet  nothing  is  'known.— Madidis,  probably  in 
the  same  sense  as  in  Sat.  xv.,  47,  "  Facilis  victoria  de  madidia."  Sil. 
xii.,  18,  "  Madefacta  mero." 

7 


146 


JUVENAL. 


wine.  And  yet,  in  what  guise  did  he  return  after  quitting 
Salamis,  who,  like  true  barbarian  as  he  was,  used  to  vent 
his  rage  in  scourges  on  Corns  and  Eurus,  that  had  never  suf- 
fered in  this  sort  in  Coins'  prison  ;  and  bound  in  gyves 
Ennosigseus^  himself.  It  was,  in  fact,  an  act  of  clemency 
that  he  did  not  think  he  deserved  branding^  also.  Would 
any  of  the  gods  chose  to  serve-^  such  a  man  as  this  ?  But 
how  did  he  return  ?  Why,  in  a  single  ship  ;  through  waves 
dyed  with  blood,  and  with  his  galley  retarded*  by  the 
shoals  of  corpses.  Such  was  the  penalty  that  glory,  for 
which  he  had  so  often  prayed,  exacted. 

"Grant  length  of  life,  great  Jove,  and  many  years  !  "  This 
is  your  only  prayer  in  health  and  sickness.  But  with  what 
unremitting  and  grevious  ills  is  old  age  crowded  !  First  of 
all,  its  face  is  hideous,  loathsome,  and  altered  from  its  former 
self  ;  instead  of  skin  a  hideous  hide  and  flaccid  cheeks  ;  and 
see  !  such  wrinkles,  as,  where  Tabraca^  extends  her  shady 
dells,  the  antiquated  ape^  scratches  on  her  wizened  jowl ! 
There  are  many  points  of  difference  in  the  young  :  this  youth 
is  handsomer  than  that ;  and  he  again  than  a  third  :  one  is  far 

1  Ennosigseum.  anh  tov  evoeecv  TTju  Talav.  Cf.  Hom.,  II.,  vii.,  455. 
j^olis  is  an  allusion  to  Virgil,  ^n.,  i.,  51,  "  Vinclis  ac  carcare  fraenat," 

2  Stigmate.   Herod.,  vii.,  35. 

That  shackles  o'er  th'  earth-shaking  Neptune  threw, 
And  thought  it  lenient  not  to  brand  him  too."  Gifford 

3  Servire  Decorum.  As  Apollo  served  Admetus :  Neptune,  Laome- 
don,  etc. 

"Ye  gods!  obeyed  ye  such  a  fool  as  this  ? "  Hodgson. 
*  Tardd.   Perhaps  alluding  to  Her.,  viii.,  118. 
A  single  skiff  to  speed  his  flight  remains, 
Th'  encumbered  oar  scarce  leaves  the  dreaded  coast 
Through  purple  billows  and  a  floating  host "  Johnson. 

5  Tabraca,  on  the  coast  of  Tunis,  now  Tabarca. 

6  Simia.  So  Ennius,  in  Cic,  Nat.  De.,  i.,  35,  "  Simia,  quam  similis 
turpissima  bestia  nobis !" 

"  A  stick-fallen  cheek!  that  hangs  below  the  jaw, 
Such  wrinkles  as  a  skillful  hand  would  draw, 
For  an  old  grandam  ape,  when,  with  a  grace, 
She  sits  at  squat,  and  scrubs  her  leathern  face."  Dryden. 


SATIRE  X. 


147 


sturdier  than  another.  Old  men's  faces  are  all  alike — limbs 
tottering  and  voice  feeble/  a  smooth  bald  pate,  and  the 
second  childhood  of  a  driveling  nose  ;  the  poor  wretch  must 
mumble  his  bread  with  toothless  gums  ;  so  loathsome  to  his 
wife,  his  children,  and  even  to  himself,  that  he  would  ex- 
cite the  disgust  even  of  the  legacy-hunter  Cossus  !  His 
palate^  is  grown  dull ;  his  relish  for  his  food  and  wine^  no 
more  the  same  ;  the  joys  of  love  are  long  ago  forgotten ;  and 
in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  reinvigorate  them,  all  manly  ener- 
gies are  hopelessly  extinct.  Has  this  depraved  and  hoary 
lechery  aught  else  to  hope?  Do  we  not  look  with  just  sus~ 
picion  on  the  lust  that  covets  the  sin  but  lacks  the  power  ?* 

Now  turn  your  eyes  to  the  loss  of  another  sense.  For 
what  pleasure  has  he  in  a  singer,  however  eminent  a  harper 
it  may  be  ;  nay,  even  Seleucus  himself  ;  or  those  whose  habit 
it  is  to  glitter  in  a  cloak  of  gold  ?^  What  matters  it  in  what 
part  of  the  wide  theatre  he  sits,  who  can  scai*cely  hear  the 
horn-blowers,  and  the  general  clang  of  trumpets?  You 
must  bawl  out  loud  before  his  ear  can  distinguish  who  it  is 
his  slave  says  has  called,  or  tells  him  what  o'clock  it  is.^ 

1  Cum  voce  trementia  membra.  Compare  Hamlet's  speech  to  Polonius, 
and  As  you  like  it,  Act  ii.,  7: 

His  big  manly  voice, 
Turning  again  toward  childish  treble,  pipes 
And  whistles  in  its  sound." 
"  The  self-same  palsy  both  in  limbs  and  tongue."  Dryden. 

2  Potato.  Compare  Barzillai's  speech  to  David,  2  Sam.,  xix.,  35,  "  I 
am  this  day  fourscore  years  old ;  and  can  I  discern  between  good  or 
evil  ?  can  thy  servant  taste  what  I  eat  and  what  I  drink?  can  I  hear 
any  more  the  voice  of  singing  men  and  singing  women  ?" 

Vini. 

"  Now  pall  the  tasteless  meats,  and  joyless  wines. 
And  Luxury  with  sighs  her  slave  resigns."  Johnson. 

4  Viribus.  Shakspeare,  King  Henry  IV.,  Part  ii.,  Act  ii.,  sc.  4,  "Is 
it  not  strange  that  desire  should  so  many  years  outlive  performance?" 

5  Auratd.  Cic.  ad  Keren.,  iv.,  47,  "Uti  citharsedus  cum  prodierit 
optime  vestitus,  palla  inauratd  indutus,  cum  chlamyde  purpurea 
coloribus  variis  intexta,  cum  corona  aurea,  magnis  fulgentibus  gem- 
mis  illuminata."  Horace,  A.  P.,  215,  "  Luxuriem  addidi  arti  Tibicen, 
traxitque  vagus  per  pulpita  vestem." 

6  Nuntiet  horas.   Slaves  were  employed  to  watch  the  dials  in  the 


148 


JUVENAL. 


Besides,  the  scanty  blood  that  flows  in  his  chilP  body  is 
warmed  by  fever  only.  Diseases  of  every  kind  dance  round 
him  in  full  choir.  If  you  were  to  ask  their  names,  I  could 
sooner  tell  you  how  many  lovers  Hippia  had  ;  how  many 
patients  Themison^  killed  in  one  autumn  ;  how  many  allies 
Basilus  plundered  ;  how  many  wards  Hirrus  defrauded  ;  how 
many  lovers  long  Maura  received  in  the  day ;  how  many 
pupils  Hamillus  corrupts.  I  could  sooner  run  through  the 
list  of  villas  owned  by  him  now,  beneath  whose  razor^  my 
stiff  beard  resounded  when  I  was  in  my  prime.  One  is  weak 
in  the  shoulder  ;  another  in  the  loins  ;  another  in  the  hip. 
Another  has  lost  both  eyes,  and  envies  the  one-eyed. 
Another's  bloodless  lips  receive  their  food  from  other's  fin- 
gers. He  that  was  wont  to  relax  his  features  to  a  smile  at 
the  sight  of  his  dinner,  now  only  gapes*  like  the  young 
swallow  to  whom  the  parent  bird,  herself  fasting, ^  flies  with 
full  beak.  But  worse  than  all  debility  of  limb  is  that  idiocy 
which  recollects  neither  the  names  of  his  slaves  nor  the  face 
of  the  friend  with  whom  he  supped  the  evening  before  ;  not 
even  those  whom  he  begot  and  brought  up  !  For  by  a  heart- 
less will  he  disinherits  them  ;  and  all  his  property  is  made 


houses  of  those  who  had  them,  and  report  the  hour  :  those  who  had 
no  dial  sent  to  the  Forum.  Cf.  Mart.,  viii.,  67.  Suet.,  Domit.,  xvi., 
"  Sexta  nuntiata  est." 

1  Qelido  Virg.,  ^n.,  v.,  395,  "  Sed  enim  gelidus  tardante  senecta 
Sanguis  he  bet,  frigentque  effoetse  in  corpore  vires." 

2  Themison  of  Laodicea  in  Syria,  pupil  of  Asclepiades,  was  an  emi- 
nent physician  of  the  time  of  Pompey  the  Great,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  the  founder  of  the  "  Methodic"  school,  as  opposed  to  the  "  Em- 
piric." Vid.  Cels.,  Prsef.  Plin.,  N.  H..  xxix.,15.  Others  say  he  lived 
in  Augustus'  time,  and  Hodgson  thinks  he  may  have  lived  even  to 
Juvenal's  days.  Cicero  (de  Orat. ,  i. ,  14)  mentions  an  Asclepiades ;  and 
the  names  of  at  least  three  others  are  mentioned  in  later  times. 

^  Quotondente.    Cf.  i.,35. 

*  Hiat  Cf.  Lucian,  Tim.,  efxe  Trepiixevovai  Kcxrjvore^  loanep  rriv  x^" 
\i66va  Trpoa"n-8roijievr]v  rerpiydreT  01  veoffaot,     P.  72,  E.,  ed.  Bened. 

&  Jejuna,  from  Hom.,  II.,  ix.,323,  (5'  opviS"  a-rrrfjai  vcvaaoia-i  Trpo- 
((>€pT}(Ti  fida-raKj  errsi  kc  Xd^rja-i,  KaKoiT  Je  re  ol  irsXei  aitrfj. 


SATIRE  X. 


149 


ttver  to  Phiale  :^ — such  power  has  the  breath  of  her  artificial 
mouth,  that  stood  for  hire  so  many  years  in  the  brothePs 
dungeon. 

Even  though  the  powers  of  intellect  retain  their  vigor,  yet 
he  must  lead  forth  the  funerals  of  his  children  ;  must  gaze 
upon  the  pyre  of  a  beloved  wife,  and  the  urns  filled  with  all 
that  remains  of  his  brother  and  sisters.  This  is  the  penalty 
imposed  on  the  long-lived,  that  they  must  grow  old  with  the 
death-blow  in  their  house  forever  falling  fresh — in  oft-recur- 
ring sorrow — in  unremitting  mourning,  and  a  suit  of  black.* 
The  king  of  Pylos,^  if  you  put  any  faith  in  great  Homer, 
was  an  instance  of  life  inferior  in  duration  only  to  the  crow's.* 
Happy,  no  doubt !  was  he  who  for  so  many  years  put  off  his 
hour  of  death  ;  and  now  begins  to  count  his  years  on  his 
right  hand,^  and  has  drunk  so  often  of  the  new-made  wine. 
I  pray  you,  lend  me  your  ear  a  little  space  ;  and  hear  how 
sadly  he  himself  complains  of  the  decrees  of  fate,  and  too 
great  powers  of  life,  when  he  watches  the  blazing  beard  of 
Antilochus^  in  his  bloom,  and  asks  of  every  friend  that 
stands  near,  why  it  is  he  lingers  on  to  this  day  ;  what  crime 
he  has  committed  to  deserve  so  long  a  life  !  Such,  too,  is 
Peleus'  strain,  when  he  mourns  for  Archilles  prematurely 
snatched  from  him  :  and  that  other,  whose  lot  it  was  to 
grieve  for  the  shipwrecked"^  Ithacensian. 

1  Phlalen. 

"  Forgets  the  children  he  begot  and  bred, 
And  makes  a  strumpet  heiress  in  their  stead."  Gifford. 

2  Nigra.   ''And  liveries  of  black  for  length  of  years."  Dryden. 

3  Pylius.  Horn.,  IL,  i,,  250, /if ra  6i  Tpirdroicnv  avaccsv.  So  Odyss., 
iii.,  245,  rpiS"  yap  Sfj  fjLLv  (paa-iv  avd^aaOai  ycve  dv^pcov. 

*  Cornice.    "  Next  to  the  raven's  age,  the  Pylian  king 

Was  longest-lived  of  any  two-legged  thing."  Dryden. 

5  Dextra.  This  the  Greeks  express  by  avairefnTd^ea-eaL.  They  counted 
on  the  left  hand  as  far  as  a  hundred,  then  on  the  right  up  to  two 
hundred,  and  then  again  on  the  left  for  the  third  hundred.  Holy- 
day  has  a  most  elaborate  explanation  of  the  method. 

6  Antilochi.   Cf.  Hor.,  II.,  Od.  ix.,  14. 

7  Natantem,  Cf.  Horn.,  Od.,  v.,  388,  399. 


JUVENAL. 


Priam  would  have  joined  the  shade  of  Assaracus  with 
Troy  still  standing,  with  high  solemnities,  with  Hector  and 
his  brothers  supporting  his  bier  on  their  shoulders,  amid  the 
weeping  Troades,  so  that  Cassandra  would  lead  off  the  wail, 
and  Polyxena^  with  mantle  rent,  had  he  but  died  at  any 
time  but  that,  after  that  Paris  had  begun  to  build  his  auda- 
cious ships.  What  then  did  length  of  days  confer  on  him? 
He  saw  his  all  o'erthrown  :  Asia  laid  low  by  flame  and 
sword.  Then  the  poor  tottering  warrior'-^  laid  down  his  dia- 
dem and  donned  his  arms,  and  fell  before  the  altar  of  su- 
preme Jove  ;  like  some  old  ox^  that  yields  his  attenuated 
and  miserable  neck  to  his  owner's  knife,  long  ago  scorned* 
by  the  ungrateful  plow. 

That  was  at  all  events  the  death  of  a  human  being :  but 
his  wife  who  survived  him  barked  fiercely  from  the  jaws  of 
a  bitch.  5 

1  hasten  on  to  our  own  countrymen,  and  pass  by  the  king 
of  Pontus,  and  Croesus,^  whom  the  eloquent  voice  of  the 
right-judging  Solon  bade  look  at  the  closing  scene''  of  a  life 
however  long.  Banishment,  and  the  jail,  and  the  marshes 
of  Minturnse,'  and  his  bread  begged  in  conquered  Carthage, 

"So  Peleus  sigh'd  to  join  his  hero  lost- 
Laertes  his  on  boundless  billows  toss'd."  Hodgson. 
^  Polyxena,  from  Eurip.,  Hec,  556,  \o^ovaa  TrsTrAovr       aKpar  stto)- 

2  Miles  tremtUus.  Virg.,  ^n.,  ii,,  509,  "Arma  diu  senior  desueta 
trementibus  sevo  circumdat,"  etc. 

,  "A  soldier  half,  and  half  a  sacrifice."  Dryden. 

3  Bos.  Virg.  ^n.,  v.,  481,  **Sternitur,  exanimisque  tremens  pro- 
cumbit  humi  bos." 

^  Fastiditus. 

"  Disdain'd  its  labors,  and  forgotten  now 
All  its  old  service  at  the  thankless  plow."  Hodgson. 

5  Canino.  See  the  close  of  Eurip.,  Hecuba.  The  Greeks  fabled  that 
Hecuba  was  metamorphosed  into  a  bitch ,  from  her  constant  railing 
at  them.    Hence  vwh^  a^ixa.   Cf.  Plaut.,  Menoechm.,  v.  i. 

6  Crcesus.    Cf.  Herod.,  i.,  32. 

7  Spatia,  a  metaphor  from  the  "  course."  So  Virgil  has  metae  aevi, 
metse  mortis. 

8  Minturnarum,  a  town  of  the  Aurunci  near  the  mouth  of  the  Liris 


SATIRE  X. 


took  their  rise  from  this.  What  could  all  nature,  what  could 
Borne,  have  produced  more  blessed  in  the  wide  world  than 
that  citizen,  had  he  breathed  forth  his  soul^  glutted  with 
spoils,  while  the  captive  ;train  followed  around  his  chariot, 
in  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  when  he  was  about 
to  alight  from  his  Teutonic^  car  !  Campania,'^  in  her  fore- 
sight for  Pompey,  had  given  him  a  fever  he  should  have 
prayed  for.  But  the  many  cities  and  their  public  prayers 
prevailed.  Therefore  his  own  malignant  fortune  and  that  of 
Rome  preserved  him  only  that  conquered  he  should  lose  his 
head.  Lentulus*  escaped  this  torment ;  Cethegus  paid  not 
this  penalty,  but  fell  unmutilated;  and  Catiline  lay  with 
corpse  entire.  The  anxious  mother,  when  she  visits  Venus' 
temple,  prays  for  beauty  for  her  boys  with  subdued  whisper;^ 
with  louder  voice  for  her  girls,  carrying  her  fond  wishes® 
even  to  the  verge  of  trifling.  ^ '  But  why  should  you  chide 
me?  "  she  says  ;     Latona^  delights  in  the  beauty  of  Diana." 


now  Garigliano.  In  the  marshes  in  the  neighborhood  Marius  con- 
cealed himself  from  the  cavalry  of  Sylla. 

1  Animam. 

"  Had  he  exhaled  amid  the  pomp  of  war, 
A  warrior's  soul  in  that  Teutonic  car."  Badham. 

2  Teutonico,  i.e.,  after  his  triumph  over  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones. 
Cf.  viii.,  251. 

3  Campania,  Cf  Cic,  Tus.  Qu.,  i.,  35,  "Pompeius  noster  familiaris, 
cum  graviter  segrotaret  Neapoli,  utrum  si  tum  esset  extinctus,  a  bonis 
rebus,  an  a  malis  discessisset?  certe  a  miseriis,  si  mortem  tum  obiis- 
set,  in  amplissimis  fortunis  occidisset."  Achillas  and  L.  Septimius 
murdered  Pompey  and  cut  off  his  head ;  which  tipvyaaaov  Kato-apt, 
cor  £7ri  pLeyiaraiS'  apLOi^aXS'.     Appian,  B.C.,  ii.,  86. 

4  P.  Corn.  Lentulus  Sura,  was  strangled  in  prison  with  Cethegus, 
Catiline  fell  in  battle,  near  Pistoria  in  Etruria. 

5  Murmure.  Venus  was  worshiped  under  the  name  of  acppoSCrrj 
xpiBvpog,  because  all  prayers  were  to  be  offered  in  whispers. 

6  Delieias.  This  is  Heinrich's  view.  Grangaeus  explains  it,  "Utpro 
ipsis  vota  deliciarum  plena  concipiat."  Britannicus.  *'  quasi  diceret, 
optat  ut  tam  formosa  sit,  ut  earn  juvenes  in  suos  amplexus  optent." 

7  Latona.  Hom.,  Od.  vi.,  106,  ykynOe  6e  re  cppspa  Ai-'/rw.  Virg.,  JEn., 
i.,  502,  Latonae  tacitum  pertentant  gaudia  pectus. 


152 


JUVENAL. 


Eut,  Lucretia^  forbids  a  face  like  hers  to  be  the  subject  of 
your  prayers :  Virginia  would  gladly  give  hers  to  Rutila, 
and  receive  her  wen  in  exchange.  But,  a  son  possessed  of 
exquisite  person  keeps  his  parents  in  a  constant  state  of  mis- 
ery and  alarm.  So  rare  is  the  union^  of  beauty  with  chastity. 
Though  the  house,  austere  in  virtue,  and  emulating  the  Sa- 
bines  of  old,  may  have  handed  down,^  like  an  inheritance, 
purity  of  morals,  and  bounteous  Nature  with  benignant  hand 
may  give,  besides,  a  chaste  mind  and  a  face  glowing  with 
modest  blood  (for  what  greater  boon  can  Nature  bestow  on  a 
youth  ?  Nature,  more  powerful  than  any  guardian,  or  any 
watchful  care  !),  still  they  are  not  allowed  to  attain  to  man- 
hood. For  the  villainy  of  the  corrupter,  prodigal  in  its 
guilt,  dares  to  assail  with  tempting  offers  the  parents  them- 
selves. So  great  is  their  confidence  in  the  success  of  bribes! 
No  tyrant  in  his  cruel  palace  ever  castrated  a  youth  that  was 
deformed  ;  nor  did  even  Nero  carry  off  a  stripling  if  club- 
footed,  or  disfigured  by  wens,  pot-bellied,  and  humpbacked! 
Go  then,  and  exult  in  the  beauty  of  your  darling  boy!  Yet 
for  whom  are  there  greater  perils  in  store  ?  He  will  become 
the  adulterer  of  the  city,  and  dread  all  the  punishments* 
that  angry  husbands  inflict.  Nor  will  he  be  more  lucky 
than  the  star  of  Mars,  even  though  he  never  fall  like  Mars 
into  the  net.^    But  sometimes  that  bitter  wrath  exacts  even 

1  Lucretia. 

"  Yet  Vane  could  tell  what  ills  from  beauty  spring, 
And  Sedley  cursed  the  form  that  pleased  a  king  ! "  Johnson. 

2  Concordia.  Ov.,.Heioid,  xvi.,  288,  *'  Lis  est  cum  forma  magna pu- 
dicitise. 

*'  Chaste— is  no  epithet  to  suit  with  fair."    Dry  den. 

3  Tradiderit.   "  Though  through  the  rugged  house,  from  sire  to  son, 

A  Sabine  sanctity  of  manners  run. ' '  Gifford. 
^  Poenas  metuet.   The  punishment  of  adulterers  seems  to  have  been 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  injured  husband  rather  than  to  have  been 
defined  by  law. 

^  Laqueos.  Ov.,  Met.,  iv.,  176,  "Extemplo  graciles  ex  sere  catenas, 
Retiaque  et  laqueos  quae  lumina  fallere  possint,  elimat."  Art.  Am., 
ii.,  561,  seq.   Hom.,  Odyss.,  viii.,  266. 


SATIRE  X. 


153 


more  than  any  law  permits,  to  satisfy  the  husband's  rage. 
One  dispatches  the  adulterer  with  the  sword  ;  another  cuts 
him  in  two  with  bloody  lashes  ;  some  have  the  punishment 
of  the  mullet.  But  your  Endymion,  forsooth,  will  of  course 
become  the  lover  of  some  lady  of  his  affections  !  But  soon, 
when  Servilia^  has  bribed  him,  he  will  serve  her  whom  he 
loves  not,  and  will  despoil  her  of  all  her  ornaments.  For 
what  will  any  woman  refuse,  to  get  her  passions  gratified  ? 
whether  she  be  an  Oppia,  or  a  Catulla.  A  depraved  woman 
has  all  her  morality'-^  concentred  there.  ''But  what  harm 
does  beauty  do  one  that  is  chaste?"  Nay,  what  did  his 
virtuous  resolve  avail  Hippolytus,  or  what  Bellerophon  ? 
Surely  she^  fired  at  the  rejection  of  her  suit,  as  though 
treated  with  indignity.  Nor  did  Sthenobsea  burn  less  fiercely 
than  the  Cretan  ;  and  both  lashed  themselves  into  fury.  A 
woman  is  then  most  ruthless,  when  shame  sets  sharper  spurs* 
to  her  hate.  Choose  what  course  you  think  should  be  re- 
commended him  to  whom  Caesar's  wife^  proposes  to  marry 
herself.  This  most  noble  and  most  beautiful  of  the  patri- 
cian race  is  hurried  off,  poor  wretched  man,  a  sacrifice  to 


1  Servilia ;  i.e.,  some  one  as  rich  and  debauched  as  Servilia,  sister 
of  Cato  and  mother  of  Brutus,  with  whom  Caesar  intrigued,  and  lav- 
ished immense  wealth  on  her.  Vid.  Suet.,  Jul.,  50.  Her  sister,  the 
wife  of  Lucullus,  was  equally  depraved. 

2  Mores.   "  In  all  things  else,  immoral,  stingy,  mean, 

But  in  her  lusts  a  conscionable  quean."  Dryden. 

3  Hxc,  sc.  Phaedra,  daughter  of  Minos,  king  of  Crete. 
^  Stimulos.  "  A  woman  scorn'd  is  pitiless  as  fate, 

For  then  the  dread  of  shame  adds  stings  to  hate." 

Gifford. 

5  Csesaris  uxor.  The  story  is  told  in  Tacitus,  Ann.,  xi.,  12,  seq.  "  In 
Silium,  juventutis  Romanse  pulcherrimum  ita  exarserat,  ut  Juniam 
Silanam  nobilem  foeminam,  matrimonio  ejus  exturbaret  vacuoque 
adultero  potiretur.  Neque  Silius  flagitii  aut  periculi  nescius  erat :  sed 
certo  si  abnueret  exitio  et  nonnulla  fallendi  spe,  simul  magnis  praemiis. 
opperiri  futura,  et  praesentibus  frui,  pro  solatio  habebat."  This  hap- 
pened A.D.  48,  in  the  autumn,  while  Claudius  was  at  Ostia.  It  was 
with  great  difficulty,  after  all,  that  Narcissus  prevailed  on  Claudius 
to  order  Messalina's  execution,  cf.  xiv.,  331 ;  Tac,  Ann.,  xi.,  37  ;  and 
she  was  put  to  death  at  last  without  his  knowledge. 

7* 


154 


JUVENAL. 


the  lewd  eyes  of  Messalina.  She  is  long  since  seated  with 
her  bridal  veil  all  ready  :  the  nuptial  bed  with  Tyrian 
hangings  is  openly  prepared  in  the  gardens,  and,  according 
to  the  antique  rites,  a  dowry  of  a  million  sesterces  will  be 
given  ;  the  soothsayer^  and  the  witnesses  to  the  settlement 
will  be  there  !  Do  you  suppose  these  acts  are  kept  secret ; 
intrusted  only  to  a  few  ?  She  will  not  be  married  otherwise 
than  with  all  legal  forms.  Tell  me  which  alternative  you 
choose.  If  you  refuse  to  comply,  you  must  die  before 
nightfall.^  If  you  do  commit  the  crime,  some  brief  delay 
will  be  afforded  you,  until  the  thing,  known  to  the  city  and 
the  people,^  shall  reach  the  prince's  ears.  He  will  be  the 
last  to  learn  the  disgrace  of  his  house  !  Do  you  meanwhile 
obey  her  behests,  if  you  set  so  high  a  value  on  a  few  days* 
existence.  Whichever  you  hold  the  better  and  the  safer 
course,  that  white  and  beauteous  neck  must  be  presented'^  to 
the  sword  ! 

Is  there  then  nothing  for  which  men  shall  pray  ?  If  you 
will  take  advice,  you  will  allow  the  deities  themselves  to  de- 
termine what  may  be  expedient  for  us,  and  suitable  to  our 
condition.  For  instead  of  pleasant  things,  the  gods  will  give 
us  all  that  is  most  fitting.  Man  is  dearer  to  them  than  to 
himself.  We,  led  on  by  the  impulse  of  our  minds,  by  blind 
and  headstrong  passions,  pray  for  wedlock,  and  issue  by  our 
wives  ;  but  it  is  known  to  them  what  our  children  will 
prove  ;  of  what  character  our  wife  will  be  !    Still,  that  you 

1  Auspex.  Suet.,  Claud.  "  Cum  comperisset  [Valeriam  Messalinam] 
super  csetera  flagitia  atque  dedecora,  C.  Silio  etiam  nupsisse,  dote  inter 
auspices  consignatd,  supplicio,  affecit."    C.  26;  cf.  36,  39. 

2  Lucernas.  "  Before  the  evening  lamps  'tis  thine  to  die."  Badham. 

3  Nota  urbi  et  populo.  Juvenal  uses  almost  the  very  words  of  Taci- 
tus. "An  discidium  inquit  (Narcissus)  tuum  nosti?  Nam  matri- 
monium  Silii  vidit  populus  et  senatus  et  miles :  ac  ni  propere  agis 
tenet  urbem  maritus."    Ann.,  xi.,  30. 

4  Frsebenda.   Cf.  Tac  ,  Ann. ,  xi.,  38. 

"  Inevitable  death  before  thee  lies, 
But  looks  more  kindly  through  a  lady's  eyes !  "  Dryden, 


SATIRE  X. 


155 


may  have  somewhat  to  pray  for,  and  vow  to  their  shrines 
the  entrails  and  consecrated  mincemeat^  of  the  white  porker, 
your  prayer  must  be  that  you  may  have  a  sound  mind  in  a 
sound  body.  Pray  for  a  bold  spirit,  free  from  all  dread  of 
death  ;  that  reckons  the  closing  scene  of  life  among  Nature's 
jkindly  boons  ;^  that  can  endure  labor,  whatever  it  be  ;  that 
deems  the  gnawing  cares  of  Hercules,'^  and  all  his  cruel  toils, 
far  preferable  to  the  joys  of  Venus,  rich  banquets,  and  the 
downy  couch  of  Sardanapalus.  I  show  thee  what  thou 
canst  confer  upon  thyself.  The  only  path  that  surely  leads 
to  a  life  of  peace  lies  through  virtue.  If  we  have  wise  fore- 
sight, thoitj  Fortune,  hast  no  divinity.**  It  is  we  that  make 
thee  a  deity,  and  place  thy  throne  in  heaven  !^ 


1  Tomacula,  "  the  liver  and  other  parts  cut  out  of  the  pig  minced  up 
with  the  fat."  Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  xlii.,  9,  "Quod  fumantia  qui  tomacla 
raucus  circumfert  tepidus  coquus  popinis."  The  other  savory  ingre- 
dients are  given  by  Facciolati;  the  Greeks  called  them  refiaxv  or 

2  Munera,    "  A  soul  that  can  securely  death  defy, 

And  count  it  Nature's  privilege  to  die."  Dryden. 

3  Hercules.  Alluding  to  the  well-known  '•Choice  of  Hercules" 
from  Prodicus.   Xen.,  Mem. 

4  Nullum  numen.   Repeated,  xiv.,  315. 

5  "  The  reasonings  in  this  Satire,"  Gibbon  says,  "would  have  been 
clearer,  had  Juvenal  distinguished  between  wishes  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which  could  not  fail  to  make  us  miserable,  and  those  whose 
accomplishment  might  fail  to  make  us  happy.  Absolute  power  is 
of  the  first  kind  ;  long  life  of  the  second." 


JUVENAL. 


SATIRE  XI. 


ARGUMENT. 

Under  the  form  of  an  invitation  to  his  friend  Persicus,  Juvenal 
takes  occasion  to  enunciate  many  admirable  maxims  for  the  due 
regulation  of  life.  After  ridiculing  the  miserable  state  to  which  a 
profligate  patrician  had  reduced  himself  by  his  extravagance,  he 
introduces  the  picture  of  his  own  domestic  economy,  which  he  fol- 
lows by  a  pleasing  view  of  the  simplicity  of  ancient  manners,  art- 
fully contrasted  with  the  extravagance  and  luxury  of  the  current 
times.  After  describing  with  great  beauty  the  entertainment  he 
proposes  to  give  his  friend,  he  concludes  with  an  earnest  recom- 
mendation to  him  to  enjoy  the  present  with  content,  and  await  the 
'future  with  calmness  and  moderation. 

If  Atticus^  sups  extravagantly,  he  is  considered  a  splen- 
did^  fellow  :  if  Kutilus  does  so,  he  is  thought  mad.  For 
what  is  received  with  louder  laughter  on  the  part  of  the 
mob,  than  Apicius^  reduced  to  poverty  ? 

Every  club,*  the  baths,  every  knot  of  loungers,  every 
theatre,^  is  full  of  Rutilus.  For  while  his  sturdy  and  youth- 
ful limbs  are  fit  to  bear  arms,^  and  while  he  is  hot  in  blood, 
he  is  driven^  (not  indeed  forced  to  it,  but  unchecked  by  the 
tribune)  to  copy  out^  the  instructions  and  imperial  com- 

1  Atiicus.  Put  for  any  man  of  wealth  and  rank.  So  Rutilus  for  the 
reverse.   Cf.  xiv.,  18. 

2  Lautus.    Cf.  Mart.,  xii.,  Ep.  xlviii.,  5. 

3  Apicius  (cf.  iv.,  23),  having  spent  **millies  sestertium,"  upward  of 
eight  hundred  thousand  pounds,  in  luxury,  destroyed  himself 
through  fear  of  want,  though  it  appeared  he  had  above  eighty  thou- 
sand pounds  left. 

4  Convicfus.  Properly,  like  convivium,  "a  dinner  party."  Cf.  i., 
145;  "  It  nova  nec  tristis per  cunctas  fabula  ccenas."  Tac,  Ann.,  xiv., 
4 ;  xiii.,  14. 

5  Stationes,  "  locus  ubi  otiosi  in  urbe  degunt,  et  variis  sermonibus 
tempus  terunt."    Plin.,  Ep.  i.,  13  ;  ii.,  9. 

«  Sufficiunt  galeas.  Cf.  vii.,  32,  "  Defluit  setas  et  pelagi  patienset  cas- 
sidis  atque  ligonis." 

7  Cogente.  Cf.  viii.,  167,  "Quanta  sua  funera  vendunt  Quid  refert? 
vendunt  nullo  cogente  Nerone.  Nec  dubitant  celsi  prsetoris  vendere 
ludis." 

8  Scripturus.   Suet.,  Jul.,  26.   Gladiators  had  to  write  out  the  rules 


SATIRE  XI. 


157 


mands  of  the  trainer  of  gladiators.  Morever,  you  see  many 
whom  their  creditor,  often  cheated  of  his  money,  is  wont  to 
look  out  for  at  the  very  entrance  of  the  market  ;^  and  whose 
inducement  to  live  exists  in  their  palate  alone.  The  great- 
est wretch  among  these,  one  who  must  soon  fail,  since  his 
ruin  is  already  as  clear'^  as  day,  sups  the  more  extravagantly 
and  the  more  splendidly.  Meanwhile  they  ransack  all  the 
elements  for  dainties  f  the  price  never  standing  in  the  way 
of  their  gratification.  If  you  look  more  closely  into  it, 
those  please  the  more  which  are  bought  for  more.  There- 
fore they  have  no  sc.  uple*  in  borrowing  a  sum,  soon  to  be 
squandered,  by  pawning^  their  plate,  or  the  broken^  image 

and  words  of  command  of  their  trainers,  "dictata,"  in  orderto  learn 
them  by  heart,  Lubinus  gives  us  some  of  these  :  "  attolle,  declina, 
percute,  urge,  csede." 

1  3IacellL  So  called  from  fxaKeWov,  "an  inclosure,"  because  the 
markets,  before  dispersed  in  the  Forum  boarium,  olitorium,  pis- 
carium,  cupedinis,  etc.,  were  collected  into  one  building;  or,  from 
one  Romanius  Macellus,  whose  house  stood  there,  and  was  "propter 
latrocinia  ejus  publice  diruta."  Vid.  Donat.  ad  Ter.,  Eunuch.,  ii., 
sc.  ii.,  24,  where  he  gives  a  list  of  the  cupediarii, "  cetarii,lanii,  coqui, 
fartores,  piscatores ;"  or  ^  mactando  :  as  the  French  "Abattoir."  Cf. 
Sat.,  v., 95.  Suet.,  Jul.,  26.  Plaut.,  Aul..  II.,  viii.,  3.   Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  xv.,  81. 

Perlucente  mind.  Cf.  x.,  107,  "  impulsse  prseceps  immane  ruinse." 
A  metaphor  from  a  building  on  the  point  of  falling,  with  the  daylight 
streaming  through  its  cracks  and  fissures. 

"  Then  with  their  prize  to  ruin'd  walls  repair, 
And  eat  the  dainty  scrap  on  earthenware."  Badham. 

2  Gustus.  III.,  93,  "  Quando  omne  peractum  est,  et  jam  defecit  nos- 
trum mare,  dum  gula  ssevit,  retibus  assiduis  penitus  scrutante  macello 
proxima."  The  idea  is  probably  from  Seneca.  "Quidquid  avium 
volitat,  quidquid  piscium  natat,  quidquid  ferarum  discurrit,  nostris 
sepelitur  ventribus."  Contr.  V.  pr.  The  Ccena  consisted  of  three 
parts.  1.  Gustus  (Gustatio),  or  Promulsis.  2,  Fercula :  different 
courses.  3.  Mensse  Secundse.  The  gustus  contained  dishes  designed 
more  to  excite  than  to  satisfy  hunger:  vegetables,  as  the  lactuca 
(Mart,,  xiii.,  14),  shell  and  other  fish,  with  piquant  sauces  :  mulsum 
(Hor.,  ii..  Sat.  iv.,  24.  Plin.,  i.,  Ep.  15).  Cf.  Bekker's  Gallus,  p.  466, 
493.   Vide  ad  Sat.  vi.,  428. 

4  Difficile,  t.e.,"non  dubitant."  Vid.  Schol.  Not  that  they  "have 
no  difficulty  "  in  raising  the  money,  as  Crepereius  Pollio  found.  Cf. 
ix.,  5. 

^  Oppositis.  "  Ager  oppositus  est  pignori  ob  decem  minas."  Ter., 
Phorm.,  IV.,  iii.,  56. 

6  Frartd.  *  Broken,  that  the  features  may  not  be  recognized  :"  al- 
luding probably  to  some  well-known  transaction  of  the  time. 


158 


JUVENAL. 


of  their  mother ;  and  with  the  400^  sesterces,  seasoning  an 
earthen^  dish  to  tickle  their  palate.  Thus  they  are  reduced 
to  the  hotchpotch^  of  the  gladiator. 

It  makes  therefore  all  the  difference  who  it  is  that  pro- 
cures these  same  things.  For  in  Kutilus  it  is  luxurious  ex- 
travagance. In  Ventidius  it  takes  a  praiseworthy  name, 
and  derives  credit  from  his  fortune. 

I  should  with  reason  despise  the  man  who  knows  how 
much  more  lofty  Atlas  is  than  all  the  mountains  in  Libya, 
yet  this  very  man  knows  not  how  much  a  little  purse  differs 
from  an  iron-bound  chest.*  Know  thyself,''  came  down 
from  heaven  :^  a  proverb  to  be  implanted  and  cherished  in 
the  memory,  whether  you  are  about  to  contract  matrimony,^ 
or  wish  to  be  in  a  part  of  the  sacred"^  senate  : — (for  not  even 
Thersites^  is  a  candidate  for  the  breast-plate  of  Achilles :  in 
which  Ulysses  exhibited  himself  in  a  doubtful  character  :^) 

1  Quadnngentis.  Cf.  Suet.,  Vit.,  13,  **Nec  cuiquam  minus  singuli 
apparatus  quadringentis  millibus  nummtim  constiterunt." 

2  Fictile.   III.,  168,    Fictilibus  coenare  pudet." 

3  Miscellanea.  "  A  special  diet-bread  to  advantage  the  combatants 
at  once  in  breath  and  strength."  Hohjday.  It  is  said  to  have  been  a 
mixture  of  cheese  and  flour ;  probably  a  kind  of  macaroni.  "  Gladia- 
toria  sagina."    Tac,  Hist.,  ii..  88.    Prop.,  IV.,  viii.,  25. 

4  Ferratu.  XIV.,  259,  "  ^rata  multus  in  area  fiscus."  X.,  25.  Hor., 
i.,  Sat.  i.,  67. 

5  E  ccelo.  This  precept  has  been  assigned  to  Socrates,  Chile,  Thales, 
Cleobulus,  Bias,  Pythagoras.  It  was  inscribed  in  gold  letters  over  the 
portico  of  the  temple  of  Delphi.  Hence,  perhaps,  the  notion  after- 
ward, that  it  was  derived  immediately  from  heaven. 

6  Conjugium.  Cf.  iEsch.,  Pr.  V..  890.  Ov.,  Her.,  ix.,  32,  "  Si  qua  vo- 
los  apte  nubere  nube  pari." 

7  Sacri.  "The  undaunted  spirit,"  says  Gifford,  "  which  could  thus 
designate  the  senate  in  those  days  of  tyranny  and  suspicion,  deserves 
at  least  to  be  pointed  out." 

8  Thersites.  Cf.  vii.,  115:  x.,84;  viii.,  269.  Juvenal  is  very  fond  of 
referring  to  this  contest. 

9  Traducebat.  II.,  159,  *'Illuc  heu  miseri  traducimur."  VIII.,  17, 
*'  Squalentes  traducit  avos."  It  means  literally  *'  to  expose  to  public 
derision,"  a  metaphor  taken  from  leading  malefactors  through  the 
forum  with  their  name  and  offense  suspended  from  their  neck.  Cf. 
Suet.,  Tit.,  8.  Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  liv.,  3,  "  Quae  tua  traducit  manifesto  car- 
mina  furto."  VI..  Ixxvii.,  5,  "  Rideris  multoque  magis  traduceris 
afer  Quam  nudus  medio  si  spatiere  foro."   Grang.  explains  it "  se 


SATIRE  XI. 


159 


— or  whether  yon  take  upon  yourself  to  defend  a  cause  of 
great  moment.  Consult  your  own  powers  ;  tell  yourself  who 
you  are  ;  whether  you  are  a  powerful  orator,  or  like  a  Cur- 
tias,  or  a  Matho,i  mere  spouters. 

One  must  know  one's  own  measure,  and  keep  it  in  view, 
in  the  greatest  and  in  most  trifling  matters  ;  even  when  a 
fish  is  to  be  bought.  Do  not  long  for  a  mullet,''^  when  you 
have  only  a  gudgeon  in  your  purse.  For  what  end  awaits 
you,  as  your  purse^  fails  and  your  gluttony  increases  ;  when 
your  patrimony  and  whole  fortune  is  squandered*  upon  your 
belly,  what  can  hold  your  money  out  at  interest,  your  solid 
plate,  your  flocks,  and  lands  ? 

By  such  proprietors  as  these,  last  of  alP  the  ring  is  parted 
with,  and  Pollio^  begs  with  his  finger  bare.    It  is  not  the 


risui  exponebat:  nee  enim  arma  Achillis  Ulyssem  decebant,'* 
Browne,  "  in  which  Ulysses  cut  a  doubtful  figure."  Others  refer  an- 
cipitem  to  loricam ;  or  place  the  stop  after  Ulysses,  and  take  ancip. 
with  causam.  Giiford  omits  the  passage  altogether,  as  a  tasteless  in- 
terpolation of  some  Scholiast.    Dryden  turns  it, 

"  When  scarce  Ulysses*  had  a  good  pretense, 

With  all  th'  advantage  of  his  eloquence." 
Badham :    "  Which  at  the  peril  of  a  soldier's  fame, 

The  brave  Ulysses  scarcely  dared  to  claim." 
Hodgson  :     "  Thersites  never  could  that  armor  bear, 

W^hich  e'en  Ulysses  hesitates  to  wear." 
Britann.  suggests  that  it  may  mean  "  his  enemies  doubted  if  he  were 
really  Achilles  or  no."    Facciol. :  *' in  a  doubtful  frame  of  mind  as  to 
whether  they  would  become  him  or  not." 

1  Matho.  Cf.  i.,  39  ;  vii.,  129.  Mart.,  iv.,  Ep.  80,  81.  For  Curtius 
Montanus,  see  Tac,  Ann.,  xvi.,  48.    Hist.,  iv.,  42. 

2  Mullum.  Gifford  always  renders  this  by  "  sur-mullet "  [**  mugilis  " 
being  properly  the  mullet,  of  which  Holyday  gives  a  drawing,  ad  x., 
317] ;  Mr.  Metcalfe,  by  "  the  sea-barbel."    Cf.  ad  iv.,  15. 

"  Nor  doubt  thy  throat  of  mullets  to  amerce, 
While  scarce  a  gudgeon  lingers  in  thy  purse."  Badham. 

3  Crumend.  Properly  *'  a  bag  or  reticule  to  hang  on  the  arm  ; "  a 
satchel  to  be  hung  over  a  boy's  shoulder:  then  a  purse  suspended 
from  the  girdle,  like  the  "  gypciere  "  of  the  Middle  Ages : 

"  If  thy  throat  widen  as  thy  pockets  shrink."  Gifford. 
Mersis. 

"  That  deep  abyss  which  every  kind  can  hold, 
Land,  cattle,  contract,  houses,  silver,  gold."  Badham. 
Novissimus.    VI.,  356,  "  Levibus  athletis  vasa  novissima  donat." 
*  PoUio.   Probably  the  Crepereius  Pollio  mentioned  Sat.  ix.,  6,  who 


l6o 


JUVENAL, 


premature  funeral  pile,  or  the  grave,  that  is  luxury's  horror, 
but  old  age,^  more  to  be  dreaded  than  death  itself.  These 
are  most  commonly  the  steps  :  money,  borrowed  at  Rome,  is 
spent  before  the  very  owners'  faces  ;  then  when  some  trifling 
residue  is  left,  and  the  lender  of  the  money  is  growing  pale, 
they  give  leg-baiP  and  run  to  Baiae  and  Ostia.  For  nowa- 
days to  quit  the  forum^  is  not  more  discreditable  to  you  than 
to  remove  to  Esquiline  from  hot*  Suburra.  This  is  the  only 
pain  that  they  who  flee  their  country  feel,  this  their  only 
sorrow,  to  have  lost  the  Circensian  games^  for  one^  year. 
Kot  a  drop  of  blood  remains  in  their  face  ;  few  attempt  to 
detain  modesty,  now  become  an  object  of  ridicule  and  flee- 
ing from  the  city. 

You  shall  prove  to-day  by  your  own  experience,  Persi- 
cus,  whether  all  these  things,  which  are  very  fine  to  talk 
about,  I  do  not  practice  in  my  life,  in  my  moral  conduct, 
and  in  reality  :  but  praise  vegetables,  while  in  secret  I  am 
a  glutton  :  in  others'  hearing  bid  my  slave  bring  me  water- 
could  get  no  one  to  lend  him  money,  though  "  triplicem  usuram 
prsestare  paratus." 

1  Senectus;  exemplified  in  the  story  of  Apicius  above. 

"  Decrepit  age  far  more  than  death  they  fear; 
Nor  thirst  nor  hunger  haunt  the  silent  bier."  Hodgson. 

2  Qui  vertere  solum.  Cic.  pro  Csec,  34,  "  Qui  volunt  pcenam  aliquam 
subterfugere  aut  calamitatem,  solum  vertunt,  hoc  est  sedem  ac  locum 
mutant."  Browne  conjectures  the  meaning  to  be,  They  who  have 
parted  with  their  property  by  mortgage,  and  so  changed  its  owner." 

3  Cedereforo  is  evidently  explained,  "to  give  one's  creditors  the 
slip" — "to  run  away  from  justice"— "to  abscond  from 'Change" — 
*'  to  become  bankrupt." 

4  Ferventi. 

Lest  Rome  should  grow  too  warm,  from  Rome  they  run."  Dryden, 

5  Circensihus.  Cf.  iii.,  223,  "Si  potes  avelli  Circensibus."  vi.,  87, 
utque  magis  stupeas  ludos  Paridemque  reliquit."  viii.,  118,  "Circo 

scenseque  vacantem."  x.,  80,  "  duas  tantum  res  anxius  optat  Panem 
et  Circenses."  All  these  passages  show  the  infatuation  of  the  Romans 
for  these  games.    Cf.  Plin.,  Ep.  ix.,  6.    Tac,  Hist.,  i.,  4;  Ann.,  i.,  2. 

6  Uno.  It  is  not  implied  that  they  had  the  privilege  of  returning  at 
the  end  of  a  year,  by  a  sort  of  a  statute  of  limitations,  but  only  that 
the  loss  of  the  games  even  for  that  short  period  was  a  greater  afflic- 
tion than  the  forfeiture  of  all  other  privileges. 

7  Siliquas,  from  Hor.  ii.,  Ep.  i..  123,  "  Vivit  siliquis  et  panesecundo." 


SATIRE  XI. 


i6r 


gruel/ but  whisper  ''cheese-cakes"  in  his  ear.    For  since 
you  are  my  promised  guest,  you  shall  find  me  an  Evander 
you  shall  come  as  the  Tirynthian,  or  the  guest,  inferior  in- 
deed to  him,  and  yet  himself  akin  by  blood  to  heaven  :  the 
one  sent  to  the  skies  by  water, ^  the  other  by  fire. 

Now  hear  your  bill  of  fare,*  furnished  by  no  public  mar- 
ket. ^  From  my  farm  at  Tibur  there  shall  come  a  little  kid, 
the  fattest  and  tenderest  of  the  whole  flock,  ignorant  of  the 
taste  of  grass,  that  has  never  yet  ventured  to  browse  even 
on  the  low  twigs  of  the  willow -bed,  and  that  has  more  milk 
than  blood  in  his  veins  :  and  asparagus^  from  the  mountains, 
which  my  bailifl's  wife,  having  laid  down  her  spindle, 
gathered.  Some  huge  eggs  besides,  and  still  warm  in  their 
twisted  hay,  shall  be  served  up  together  with  the  hens  them- 
selves :  and  grapes  kept  a  portion  of  the  year,  just  as  they 
were  when  fresh  upon  the  vines :  pears  from  Signia"^  and 

1  Pultes.  A  mixture  of  coarse  meal  and  water,  seasoned  with  salt 
and  cheese ;  sometimes  with  an  egg  or  honey  added.  It  was  long  the 
food  of  the  primitive  Romans,  according  to  Pliny,  xviii. ,  8,  seq.  It 
probably  resembled  the  macaroni,  or  "  polenta,"  of  the  poor  Italians 
of  the  present  day.  Cf.  Pers.,  iii.,  55,  "  Juventus  siliquis  et  grandi 
pasta  polenta." 

2  Evandrum.  The  allusion  is  to  Virg,,  ^n.,  viii.,  100,  seq. ;  228,  359, 
seq. 

Come  ;  and  while  fancy  brings  past  times  to  view, 
I'll  think  myself  the  king — the  hero,  you  !"  Gifford. 

3  Alter  aquis.  .Eneas,  drowned  in  the  Numicius.  Hercules,  burned 
on  Mount  CEta. 

4  FeraUa.    Cf.  ad  14. 

5  Macellis.  Virg.,  Georg.,  iv.,  133,  "  Papibus  mensas  onerabat  inemp- 
tis."  Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  ii.,  150,  seq.  The  next  16  lines  are  imitated 
from  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  48.  Gifford  says,  "  Martial  has  imitated  this  bill  of 
fare  in  Lib.  x,,  48."  But  his  10th  Book  was  written  a.d.  99  ;  and  from 
line  203,  it  is  evident  this  Satire  was  written  in  Juvenal's  old  age,  and 
therefore,  in  all  probability,  twenty  years  later. 

6  Asparagi,  called  "corruda,"  Cato  de  R.  R.,  6.  The  wild  asparagus 
is  still  very  common  on  the  Italian  hills.  Cf  Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  21, "  In- 
culti  asparagi."  See  Sir  William  Hooker's  note  on  Badham's  version. 

7  Signia,  now  "  Segni  "  m  Latium.  Cf.  Plin.,  xv  .  15. — Syrium.  The 
"Bergamot"  pears  are  said  to  have  been  imported  from  Syria.  Cf. 
Mart.,  v..  Ep.  Ixxviii.,  13,  "  Et  nomen  pyra  qua?  ferunt  Syrorum." 
Virg.,  Georg.,  ii.,  88.  '*  Crustumiis  Syriisqne  pyris."  Columella  (lib.  v., 
c.  10)  calls  them  "  Tarentina,"  because  brought  from  Syria  to  Taren- 
tum.   Others  say  they  are  the  same  as  the  Falernian. 


JUVENAL. 


Syria  :  and,  from  the  same  basket,  apples  rivaling  those  of 
Picenum,^  and  smelling  quite  fresh  ;  that  you  need  not  be 
afraid  of,  since  they  have  lost  their  autumnal  moisture, 
which  has  been  dried  up  by  cold,  and  the  dangers  to  be  > 
feared  from  their  juice  if  crude.  This  would  in  times  gone 
by  have  been  a  luxurious  supper  for  our  senate.  Curius'^ 
with  his  own  hands  used  to  cook  over  his  little  fire  pot-herbs 
which  he  had  gathered  in  his  little  gardeja  :  such  herbs  as 
now  the  foul  digger  in  his  heavy  chain  rejects  with  scorn, 
who  remembers  the  flavor  of  the  vile  dainties^  of  the  reek- 
ing cook-shop.  It  was  the  custom  formerly  to  keep  against 
festival  days  the  flitches  of  the  smoked  swine,  hanging  from 
the  wide-barred  rack,  and  to  set  bacon  as  a  birthday  treat 
before  one's  relations,  with  the  addition  of  some  fresh  meat, 
if  a  sacrificial  victim  furnished  any.  Some  one  of  the  kin, 
with  the  title  of  ''Thrice  consul,"  that  had  held  command 
in  camps,  and  discharged  the  dignity  of  dictator,  used  to  go 
earlier*  than  his  wont  to  such  a  feast  as  this,  bearing  his 
spade  over  his  shoulder  from  the  mountain  he  had  been  dig- 


1  Picenis.  Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  iv.,  70,  "Picenis  cedimt  pomis  Tiburtia 
succo,  Nam  facie  prsestant."  And  iii.,  272.  "  Picenis  excerpens  semina 
pomis."  These  apples  were  to  be  also  from  his  Tiburtine  farm :  the 
banks  of  the  Anio  being  famous  for  its  orchards.  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  vii., 
14,  "  Prseceps  Anio  ac  Tiburni  lucus  et  uda  mobilibus  pomaria  vivis." 
Propert.,  IV.,  vii.,  81,  "Pomosis  Anio  qua  spumifer  incubat  arvis." 
Apples  formed  a  very  prominent  part  of  the  mensse  secundse :  hence 
the  proverb,  "Ab  ovo  usque  ad  mala."  Cf.  Mart.,  x.,  48,  fin.,  "Saturis 
mitia  pomo  dabo."  Cf.  Sat.  v.,  150,  seq.,  where  apples  "qualia  per- 
petuus Phseacum  Autumnus  habebat  "  form  the  conclusion  of  Virro's 
dinner.    Cf  Mart.,  iii.,  Ep.  50. 

2  Curius  was  found  by  the  Samnite  embassadors  preparing  his  dish 
of  turnips  over  the  fire  with  his  own  hands.   Cic,  de  Sen.,  xvi. 

"  Senates  more  rich  than  Rome's  first  senates  were. 
In  days  of  yore  desired  no  better  fare."  Badham. 

3  Vulva  "  Nul  vulva  pulchrius  ampla."  Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  xv.,  41,  For 
a  description  of  this  loathsome  dainty,  vid.  Plin.,  xi.,  37,  84.  Cf. 
Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  56. 

4  Maturius. 

"For  feasts  like  these  would  quit  the  mountain's  soil, 
And  snatch  an  hour  from  customary  toil."  Badham. 


SATIRE  XI. 


163 


ging  on.  But  when  men  trembled  at  the  Fabii,^  and  the 
stern  Cato,  and  the  Scauri  and  Fabricii  ;2  and  when,  in  fine, 
even  his  colleague  stood  in  dread  of  the  severe  character  of 
the  strict  Censor  ;  no  one  thought  it  was  a  matter  of  anxiety 
or  serious  concern  what  kind  of  tortoise^  floated  in  the  wave 
of  ocean,  destined  to  form  a  splendid  and  noble  couch  for 
the  Trojugenae.  But  with  side  devoid  of  ornament,  and 
sofas  of  diminutive  size,  the  brazen  front  displayed  the 
mean  head  of  an  ass  wearing  a  chaplet,*  at  which  the  coun- 
try lads  laughed  in  wantonness. 

The  food  then  was  in  keeping  with  the  master  of  the  house 
and  the  furniture.  Then  the  soldier,  uncivilized,  and  too 
ignorant''  to  admire  the  arts  of  Greece,  used  to  break  up  the 
drinking-cups,  the  work  of  some  renowned  artists,  which  he 
found  in  his  share  of  the  booty  when  cities  were  overthrown, 
that  his  horse  might  exult  in  trappings,®  and  his  embossed 
helmet  might  display  to  his  enemy  on  the  point  of  perish- 
ing, likenesses  of  the  Komulean  wild  beast  bidden  to  grow 
tame  by  the  destiny  of  the  empire,  and  the  twin  Quirini  be- 


1  Fdbios.  Q.  Fabius  Maximus  Rullianus,  censor  a.u.c.  449,  obliged 
his  colleague,  P.  Decius,  to  allow  him  to  administer  his  office  with 
all  its  pristine  severity. 

2  Fahricios.    Cf.  ad  ix.,  142. 

3  Testudo.  Cf.  vi.,  80,  "Testudineo  conopeo  ;  "  xiv.,  308,  "  ebore  et 
lata  testudine." 

"  Which  future  times  were  destined  to  employ, 
To  build  rare  couches  for  the  sons  of  Troy."  Badham. 

4  Vile  coronati.  Henninius  suggests  vite.  The  ass,  by  browsing  on 
the  vine,  and  thereby  rendering  it  more  luxuriant,  is  said  to  have 
first  given  men  the  idea  of  pruning  the  tendrils.  Cf.  Paus.,  ii.,  38. 
Hyg.,  F.,  274.  The  ass  is  always  found,  too,  in  connection  with 
Silenus. 

6  Nesdus. 

"  Till  at  the  soldier's  foot  her  treasures  lay, 
Who  knew  not  half  the  riches  of  his  prey."  Hodgson. 
6  Phaleris:  xvi.,  60.  Florus  says  Phalerse  were  introduced  from 
Etruria  together  with  curule  chairs,  trabae,  prsetextse,  etc.  Vid  Liv., 
xxxix.,  31.  Plin.,  vi.,  28,  9,  says  Siccius  Dentatus  had  25  phalerae  and 
83  torques.  Sii.,  xv.,  254.  Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  ix.,  359.  Suet.,  Aug.,  25; 
l^ei-,33. 


JUVENAL. 


neath  the  rock,  and  the  naked  image  di  the  god  coming 
down^  with  buckler  and  spear,  and  impending  over  him. 
Whatever  silver  he  possessed  glittered  on  his  arms^^  alone. 
In  those  days,  then,  they  used  to  serve  all  their  furmety  in  a 
dish  of  Tuscan  earthenware  :  which  you  may  envy,  if  you 
are  at  all  that  way  inclined.^ 

The  majesty  of  temples  also  was  more  evidently  near*  to 
men,  and  a  voice^  heard  about  midnight  and  through  the 
midst  of  the  city,  when  the  Gauls  were  coming  from  the 
shore  of  ocean,  and  the  gods  discharged  the  functions  of  a 
prophet,  warned  us  of  these. 

This  was  the  care  which  Jupiter  used  to  show  for  the  af- 
fairs of  Latium,  when  made  of  earthenware,^  and  as  yet  pro- 
faned by  no  gold.  Those  days  saw  tables  made  of  wood 
grown  at  home  and  from  our  native  trees. To  these  uses 


1  Venieniis.  Supposed  to  be  a  representation  of  Mars  hovering  in 
the  air,  and  just  about  to  alight  by  the  sleeping  Rhea  Sylvia,  The 
god  is  armed,  because  the  conventional  manner  of  representing  him 
was  by  the  distinction  of  his  "framea"  and  *'clypeus."  See  Addi- 
son's note  in  Gifford. 

2  In  armis. 

Then  all  their  wealth  was  on  their  armor  spent, 

And  war  engross' d  the  pride  of  ornament.'  Hodgson. 

2  Lividulus. 

**  Yet  justly  worth  your  envy,  were  your  breast 
But  with  one  spark  of  noble  spleen  possess'd."  Gififord. 

4  Prseseniior.  Of.  iii.,  18,  "Quanto  prsescntius  esset  Numen  aquae." 
Virg.,  Ec,  i.,  42,  "  Nee  tam  prsesentes  alibi  cognoscere  Divos."  Georg., 
1.,  10,  "Prsesentia  Numina  Fauni."  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  v.,  2,  ''Praesens  Di- 
vus  habebitur  Augustus." 

&  Vox.  "  M.  Caedicius  de  plebe  nunciavit  tribunis,  se  in  Nova  Via, 
ubi  nunc  sacellum  est,  supra  aedem  Vestae  vocem  noctis  silentio  au- 
disse  clariorem  humana  quae  magistratibus  dici  juberet  'Gallos  ad- 
ventare.'"  "  Invisitato  atque  inaudito  hoste  ab  oceano  terrarumque 
ultimis  oris  helium  ciente."  Liv.,  v.,  32,3,  7,50.  Cic,  de  Div.,  ii., 
"At  paullo  post  audita  vox  est  monentis  ut  providerent  ne  a  Gallis 
Roma  caperetur ;  ex  eo  Aio  loquenti  aram  in  nova  vi^  consecratam." 
Cf.  Plut.,  in  Vit.  Camill. 

6  Fictilis.  Cf.  Sen.,  Ep.  31,  "  Cogita illos  quum  propitii  essent  fictiles 
fuisse." 

7  Arbore.  Cf.  Mart.,  xiv.,  Ep.  xc,  "  Non  sum  crispa  quidem  nec 
sylvae  filia  Maurae.  oed  norunt  lautas  et  mea  ligna  dapes."  Cf.  Sat.  i., 
75, 137  ;  iv.,  132.   The  extravagance  of  the  Romans  on  their  tables  is 


SATIRE  XI. 


165 


was  the  timber  applied,  if  the  east  wind  had  chanced  to  lay 
prostrate  some  old  walnut  tree.  But  now  the  rich  have  no 
satisfaction  in  their  dinner,  the  turbot  and  the  venison  lose 
their  flavor,  perfumes  and  roses  seem  to  lose  their  smell,  un- 
'  less  the  broad  circumference  of  the  table  is  supported  by  a 
huge  mass  of  ivory,  and  a  tall  leopard  with  wide  gaping 
jaws,  made  of  those  tusks,  which  the  gate  of  Syene  Hransmits, 
and  the  active  Moors,  and  the  Indian  of  duskier  hue  than 
the  Moor  ;^  and  which  the  huge  beast  has  deposited  in  some 
Kabathsean^  glen,  as  now  grown  too  weighty  and  burdensome 
to  his  head  :  by  this  their  appetite*  is  whetted  :  honce  their 
stomach  acquires  its  vigor.  For  a  leg  of  a  table  made  only 
of  silver  is  to  them  what  an  iron  ring  on  their  finger  would 
be :  I  therefore  cautiously  avoid  a  proud  guest,  who  com- 
pares me  with  himself,  and  looks  with  scorn  on  my  paltry 


almost  incredible.  Pliny  says  that  Cicero  himself,  who  accuses  Ver- 
res  of  stealing  a  Citrea  mensa  from  Diodorus  (in  Verr.,  iv.,  17),  gave  a 
million  of  sesterces  for  one  which  was  in  existence  in  his  time.  A 
"  Senatoris  Census"  was  a  price  given.  These  tables  were  not  pro- 
vided with  several  feet,  but  rested  on  an  ivory  column  (sometimes 
carved  into  the  figure  of  animals),  hence  called  monopodia.  They 
were  called  "  Orbes,"  not  from  being  round,  but  because  they  were 
massive  plates  of  wood  cut  olf  the  stem  in  its  whole  diameter.  The 
wood  of  the  citrus  was  most  preferred.  This  is  not  the  citron-tree, 
which  never  attains  to  this  bulk,  but  a  tree  found  in  Mauritania, 
called  the  thyse  cypressides.  Plin.,  xiii.,  16.  Those  cut  near  the  root 
were  most  valued  from  the  wood  being  variegated :  hence  "Tigrinse. 
pantherinae,  pavonum  caudae  oculos  imitantes."  The  mensae  were 
formerly  square,  but  were  afterward  round  to  suit  the  new  fashion 
of  the  Sigma  couch.  The  Romans  also  understood  the  art  of  veneer- 
ing tables  and  other  furniture  with  the  citrus  wood  and  tortoise- 
shell. 

1  Porta  Syenes.  Syene,  now  "  Assouan,"  is  situated  near  the  rapids, 
just  on  the  confines  of  Ethiopia.  It  was  a  station  for  a  Roman  garri- 
son, and  the  place  to  which  Juvenal  is  said  to  have  been  banished. 
Some  think  the  island  Elephantine  is  here  meant.  Cf.  ad  x.,  150, 
"aliosque  Elephantos." 

2  Mauro.  Ab  a^iavpo';,  vel  /aavpo?,  "  obscurus."  Cf.  Lucan.,  iv.,  678, 
"  Concolor  Indo  Maurus." 

s  Nabathcfo.  The  Nabathsei,  in  Arabia  Petrsea,  took  their  name 
from  '"Nebaioth,  first-born  of  Ishmael,"  Gen.,  xxv.,  13.  Elephants 
are  said  to  shed  their  tusks  every  two  years. 

*  Orexis,  VI.,  428.    FiVes.   Henninius'  suggestion.   Cf.  ad  1.,  14. 


i66 


JUVENAL. 


estate.  Consequently  I  do  not  possess  a  single  ounce  of 
ivory  ;  neither  niy  chess-board^  nor  my  men  are  of  this  ma- 
terial ;  nay,  the  very  handles  of  my  knives  are  of  bone.  Yet 
my  viands  never  become  rank  in  flavor  by  these,  nor  does 
my  pullet  cut  up  the  worse  on  that  account.  Nor  yet  will 
you  see  a  carver,  to  whom  the  whole  carving- schooP  ought 
to  yield  the  palm,  some  pupil  of  the  professor  Trypherus,  at 
whose  house  the  hare,  with  the  large  sow's  udders,^  and  the 
wild  boar,  and  the  roebuck,*  and  pheasants,^  and  the  huge 
flamingo,^  and  the  wild  goat''  of  Gsetulia,  all  forming  a  most 
splendid  supper,  though  made  of  elm,  are  carved  with  the 
blunted  knife,  and  resounds  through  the  whole  Suburra. 
My  little  fellow,  who  is  a  novice,  and  uneducated  all  his 
days,  does  not  know  how  to  take  dexterously  off  a  slice  of 


1  Tessellae.  Holyday  explains  this  by '  chess-board,"  from  the  re- 
semblance of  the  squares  to  the  tesselated  pavements.  But  it  is  a  die, 
properly ;  of  which  shape  the  separate  tesserae  were.  Mart.,  xiv.,  17, 
*' Hie  mihi  bis  seno  numeratur  tessera  puncto:  Calculus  hie  gemino 
discolor  hoste  perit.  Cf  Ep.  14.  Cicero  considers  this  game  to  be  one 
of  the  legitimate  amusements  of  old  age.  "  Nobis  senibus,  ex  lusioni- 
bus  multis,  talos  relinquant  et  tesseras,"  de  Sen.,  xvi.  '*  Old  Mucins 
Scsevola,  the  lawyer,  was  a  great  proficient  at  it.  It  was  called  Lu- 
dus  duodecim  scriptorum,  from  the  lines  dividing  the  alveolus.  On 
these  the  two  armies,  white  and  black,  each  consisting  of  fifteen  men, 
or  calculi,  were  placed ;  and  alternately  moved,  according  to  the 
chances  of  the  dice,  tesserse."   Vid.  Gibbon,  chap,  xxxi. 

2  Pergula.  Literally  "  the  stall  outside  a  shop  where  articles  are 
displayed  for  sale."  Here  used  for  the  teachers  of  the  art  of  carving 
who  exhibited  at  these  stalls.  Suet.,  Aug.,  94,  speaks  of  a  pergula 
Mathematici."  Pergula,  "a  perga,  quia  extra  parietem  pergit." 
Face. 

3  Sumine.  Cf  Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  44,  "  vivo  lacte  papilla  tumet." 

^  Pygargus.  "  Caprae  sylvestris  genus,  ab  albis  clunium  pilis.'* 
Face.  \Cf.  Plin.,  viii.,  53,  79,  "Damse  et  pygargi  et  Strepsicerotes." 
The  "  spring-bok  "  of  the  Cape. 

5  Scythicse.  The  pheasant  (opvt?  <|)a<navb9,  or  4>a(7ta»'t>c6s,  Arist.,  Av., 
68)  takes  its  name  from  the  Phasis,  a  river  in  Colchis,  on  the  confines 
of  Scythia,  at  the  mouth  of  which  these  birds  congregate  in  large 
flocks.   Vid.  Athen.,  ix,,  37,  seq. 

^  Phcenicopterus.  Arist.,  Av.,  273.  Cf.  Mart,  xiii.,  71,  "  Dat  mihi 
penna  rubens  nomen."  Cf.  iii.,  Ep.  Iviii.,  14.  Suetonius  mentions 
"linguas  phoenicopterum  "  among  the  delicacies  of  the  "  Coena  ad- 
venticia  "  given  by  his  brother  to  Vitellius,  in  Vit.,  c.  13. 

7  Caprex.    Cf.  Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  99. 


SATIRE  XI. 


roe,  or  the  wing  of  a  Guinea-hen  ;^  only  versed  in  the  mys- 
teries of  carving  the  fragments  of  a  small  collop.^ 

My  slave,  who  is  not  gayly  dressed,  and  only  clad  so  as  to 
protect  him  from  cold,  will  hand  you  plebeian  cups^  bought 
for  a  few  pence.  He  is  no  Phrygian  or  Lycian,  or  one  pur- 
chased from  the  slave-dealer*  and  at  great  price.  When  you 
ask  for  any  thing,  ask  in  Latin.  They  have  all  the  same 
style  of  dress  ;  their  hair  close-cropped  and  straight,  and 
only  combed  to-day  on  account  of  company.  One  is  the  son 
of  a  hardy  shepherd,  another  of  a"  neat-herd  :  he  sighs  after 
his  mother,  whom  he  has  not  seen  for  a  long  time,  and  pines 
for  his  hoveP  and  his  playmate  kids.  A  lad  of  ingenuous 
face,  and  ingenuous  modesty  ;  such  as  those  ought  to  be  who 
are  clothed  in  brilliant  purple.  He  shall  hand  you  wine^ 
made  on  those  very  hills  from  which  he  himself  comes,  and 
under  whose  summit  he  has  played  ;  for  the  country  of  the 
wine  and  the  attendant  is  one  and  the  same. 

Gambling  is  disgraceful,  and  so  is  adultery,  in  men  of 
moderate  means.    Yet  when  rich  men  commit  all  those 

1  Afra  avis.  Hot.,  Epod.,  ii.,  53,  Non  Afra  avis  descendat  in  ven- 
trem  meum  non  attagen  lonicus."  The  /u-eAeaypi?  of  the  Greeks. 
Varro,  R.R.,  III.,  ix.,  18. 

2  Ofellas,  the  diminutive  of  Offa.  "A  cutlet  or  chop,"  generally  ap- 
plied to  the  coarser  kind  of  meat.  Cf.  Mart.,  xii.,  48,  "  Me  meus  ad 
subitas  invitet  amicus  ofellas :  Hsec  mihi  quam  possum  reddere 
ccBna  placet."  Some  read  furtis  for  frustis:  which  imputation  against 
the  character  of  the  little  slave  Gifford  indignantly  rejects. 

^  Plebeios  calices,  cf  ad  vi.,  155;  v.,  46,  made  of  glass,  which  was  now 
very  common  at  Rome.  Vid.Mart.,  Ep.  xii.,  74  ;  xiv.,  94,  seq.,  and  es- 
pecially the  Epigram  on  Mamurra,  ix.,  60.  Strabo  speaks  of  them  as 
sold  commonly  in  Rome  in  his  own  time  for  a  xaA>cou<;  each  (not  quite 
a  farthing),  lib.  xvi.,  p.  368,  T.    Cf.  Bekker's  Gallus,  p.  303. 

^  Mango,  cf  Pers.,  vi.,  76,  seq.,  from  manu  ago,  because  they  made 
up  their  goods  for  sale,  or  from  fxdyyavov,  "a  trick."  Cf  Aristoph., 
Plut,  310.    Bekker's  Gallus,  the  Excursus  on  "the  Slaves." 

5  Casiilam.  Cf.  ix.,  59,  "Ruslicus  infans,  cum  matre  et  casulis  et 
conlusore  catello." 

"  Sighs  for  his  little  cottage,  and  would  fain 
Meet  his  old  playfellows  the  goats  again."  Gifford. 

6  Vina.  Cf.  vii.,  96,  **Vinum  Tiber!  devectum."  Mart.,  x.,48, 19,, 
"  De  Nomentana  vinum  sine  fsece  lagena." 


i68 


JUVENAL. 


abominations,  they  are  called  jovial,  splendid  fellows.  Our 
banquet  to-day  will  furnish  far  different  amusements.  The 
author  of  the  Iliad^  shall  be  recited,  and  the  verses  of  high- 
sounding  Mars,  that  render  the  palm  doubtful.  What  matter 
is  it  with  what  voice  such  noble  verses  are  read  V  But  now 
having  put  off  all  your  cares,  lay  aside  business,  and  allow 
yourself  a  pleasing  respite,  since  you  will  have  it  in  your 
power  to  be  idle  all  day  long.  Let  there  be  no  mention  of 
money  out  at  interest.  Nor  if  your  wife  is  accustomed  to  go 
out  at  break  of  day  and  return  at  night,  let  her  stir  up  your 
bile,*^  though  you  hold  your  tongue.  Divest  yourself  at  once 
of  all  that  annoys  you,  at  my  threshold.  Banish  all  thoughts 
of  home  and  servants,  and  all  that  is  broken  and  wasted*  bj 
them — especially  forget  ungrateful  friends  !  Meantime,  the 
spectacles  of  the  Megalesian  toweP  grace  the  Idsean  solemnity: 
and,  like  one  in  a  triumph,  the  prey  of  horses,  the  praetor, 
sits :  and,  if  I  may  say  so  without  offense  to  the  immense 
and  overgrown  crowd,  the  circus  to-day  incloses  the  whole  of 
E-ome  f  and  a  din  reaches  my  ears,  from  which  I  infer  the 

1  Iliados.    "  The  tale  of  Ilium,  or  that  rival  lay 

Which  holds  in  deep  suspense  the  dubious  bay."  Bad. 

2  Legantur.  Cf.  Corn.  Nep.,  vit.  Attici, "  Nemo  in  convivio  ejus  aliud 
acroama  audivit  quam  A  nagnosten  ;  quod  nos  q  uidem  j  ucundissimum 
arbitramur.  Neque  unquam  sine  aliqua  lectione  apud  eum  coena- 
tum  est,  ut  non  minus  animo  quam  ventre  convivse  delectarentur," 
c.  xvi.  ( 'f.  Mart. ,  iii. ,  Ep.  50,  who  complains  of  Ligurinus  inviting  him 
to  have  his  own  productions  read  to  him. 

^  Bilem.    "  Let  no  dire  images  to-day  be  brought 

To  wake  the  hell  of  matrimonial  thought."  Hodgson. 
^  Peril.    Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  i.,  121,  "  Detrimenta,  fugas  servorum,  in- 
cendia  ridet." 

5  Mappse.  Holyday  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  this 
^  custom.  "Nero  on  a  time,  sitting  alone  at  dinner,  when  the  shows 
'  were  eagerly  expected,  caused  his  towel  with  which  he  had  wiped 
'  his  hands  to  be  presently  cast  out  at  the  window,  for  a  sign  of  his 

speedy  coming.  Whereupon  it  was  in  after  times  the  usual  sign  at 
the  beginning  of  these  shows."  For  the  mappa  see  Bekker's  Gallus, 
p.  476.— Prxda,  because  "  ruined  by  the  expense  ;"  or  Prxdo,  from  his 
"  unjust  decisions  ;"  or  Perda,  from  the  "  number  of  horses  damaged." 

6  Totam  Romarn.  See  (Mbbon,  chap,  xxxi.,  for  the  eagerness  with 
ivhich  all  ranks  flocked  to  these  games. 


SATIRE  XI. 


169 


success  of  the  green  faction.^  For  should  it  not  win,  you 
would  see  this  city  in  mourning  and  amazement,  as  when 
the  consuls  were  conquered  in  the  dust^  of  Cannae.  Let 
young  men  be  spectators  of  these,  in  whom  shouting  and 
bold  betting,  and  sitting  by  a  trim  damsel  is  becoming.  Let 
our  skin, 3  which  is  wrinkled  with  age,  imbibe  the  vernal 
sun  and  avoid  the  toga'd  crowd.  Even  now,  though  it 
wants  a  whole  hour  to  the  sixth,  you  may  go  to  the  bath 
with  unblushing  brow.  You  could  not  do  this  for  five  suc- 
cessive days  ;  because  even  of  such  a  life  as  this  there  would 
be  great  weariness.  It  is  a  more  moderate  use*  that  en- 
hances pleasures. 


1  Viridis  panni.  Of.  ad  vi.,  590.  Plin.,  Ep.  ix.,  6,  "  Si  aut  velocitate 
equorum.  aut  hominum  arte  traberentur,  esset  ratio  nonnulla.  Nunc 
favent  parmo  .•  pannum  amant,"  et  seq.  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  xlviii.,  23,  "  De 
Prasino  conviva  meus,  venetoque  loquatur."  XIV.,  131,  "  Siveneto 
Prasiiiove  faves  quid  coccina  sumis?" 

2  Pulvere  is  not  without  its  force.  Hannibal  is  said  to  have  plowed 
up  the  land  near  Camise,  that  the  wind  which  daily  rose  and  blew  in 
that  direction  might  carry  the  dust  into  the  eyes  of  the  Romans. 
"  Ventus  ( Vulturnmn  incolse  regionis  vocant)  adversus  Romania  coor- 
tus,  tiiulto  pulvere  in  ipsa  ora  volvendo,  prospectum  ademit."  Liv., 
xxii.,  46  and  43.    Cf.  Sat.  ii..  155  ;  x.,  165. 

^  CiiticiUa.  Pers.,  iv.,  18,  "  Assiduo  curata  cuticula  sole.''  33,  "  Et 
figas  in  cute  solem."  V.,  179.  "  Aprici  meminisse  senes."  Mart.,  x., 
Ep.  xii.,  7,  "Totos  avida  cute  combibe  soles."  I.,  Ep.  78,  "Sole  uti- 
tur  Charinus."  Plin.,  Ep.  iii.,  1,  "Ubi  bora  balinei  nuntiata  est  (cf. 
ad  Sat.  X.,  216),  est  autem  hieme  nona,  sestate  octava,  in  sole,  si  caret 
vento.  ambulat  nudus."  Cicero  mentions  "  apricatio  "  as  one  of  the 
solaces  of  old  age.  De  Sen.,  c.  xvi. 

"  While  we,  my  friend,  whose  skin  grows  old  and  dry. 
Court  the  warm  sunbeam  of  an  April  sky."  Badham. 
^  Rarior  usus. 

"  Our  very  sports  by  repetition  tire, 
But  rare  delight  breeds  ever  new  desire."  Hodgson. 


8 


170 


JUVENAL. 


SATIRE  XII. 


ARGUMENT. 

Catullus,  a  valued  friend  of  the  poet,  had  narrowly  escaped  ship-i 
wreck.  In  a  letter  of  rejoicing  to  their  common  friend,  Corvinus,' 
Juvenal  describes  the  danger  that  his  friend  had  incurred,  and  his 
own  hearty  and  disinterested  delight  at  his  preservation,  contrast- 
ing his  own  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  at  the  event,  with  those  of- 
fered by  the  designing  legacy-hunters,  by  which  the  rich  and 
childless  were  attempted  to  be  insnared. 

This  day,  Corvinus,  is  a  more  joyful  one  to  me  than  even 
my  own  birthday  ;^  in  which  the  festal  altar  of  turf^  awaits 
the  animals  promised  to  the  gods. 

To  the  queen  of  the  gods  we  sacrifice  a  snow-white^  lamb  : 
a  similar  fleece  shall  be  given  to  her  that  combated  the 
Mauritanian  Gorgon.*  But  the  victim  reserved  for  Tar- 
peian  Jupiter,  shakes,  in  his  wantonness,  his  long-stretched^ 
rope,  and  brandishes  his  forehead.  Since  he  is  a  sturdy 
calf ;  ripe  for  the  temple  and  the  altar,  and  ready  to  be 
sprinkled  with  wine  ;  ashamed  any  longer  to  drain  his 

1  Natali.  The  birthday  was  sacred  to  the  "  Genius  "  to  whom  they 
offered  wine,  incense  and  flowers  :  abstaining  from  "bloody"  sacri- 
fices, "  ne  die  qua  ipsi  lucem  accepissent  aliis  demerent,"  Hor.,  ii., 
Ep.  144.  "  Floribus  et  vino  Genium  memorem  brevis  avi,"  Pers  ,  ii., 
3.  "  Funde  merum  Genio,"  Censorin.,  de  D.  N.,  3.  Virg.,  Eel.  iii.,  76. 
Compare  Hor.,  Od.,  IV.,  xi.,  where  he  celebrates  the  birthday  of  Mae- 
cenas as  "  sanctior  poene  natali  proprio.''  Cf.  Dennis's  Etruria,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  65. 

2  Caespes.  Hor.,  Od.,  III.,  viii.,  3,  "Positusque  carbo  in  csespite 
vivo."   Tac,  Ann.,  i.,  18. 

3  Niveam.  A  white  victim  was  offered  to  the  Dii  Superi :  a  black 
one  to  the  Inferi.  Cf.  Virg.,  ^^^n.,  iv.,  60,  "  Junoni  ante  omnes,  Ii>sa 
tenens  dextra  pateram  pulcherrima  Dido  Candentis  vaccse  media  in- 
ter cornua  fundit."  Tibull.,  I.,  ii.,  61,  "  Concidit  ad  magicos  hostia 
pulla  deos."  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  viii.,  27,  "  Pullam  divellere  mordicus 
agnam." 

^  Gorgone.    Cf.  Vir.,  ^n.,  viii.,  435,  scg.;  ii.,  616. 

^  Extensum.  It  was  esteemed  a  very  bad  omen  if  the  victim  did 
not  go  willingly  to  the  sacrifice.  It  was  always  led,  therefore,  with 
a  long  slack  rope. 


SATIRE  XII. 


171 


mother's^  teats,  and  butts  the  oaks  with  his  sprouting  hom.^ 
Had  I  an  ample  fortune,  and  equal  to  my  wishes,  a  bull  fat- 
ter than  Hispulla,^  and  slow-paced  from  his  very  bulk, 
should  be  led  to  sacrifice,  and  one  not  fed  in  a  neighboring 
pasture  ;  but  his  blood  should  flow,  giving  evidence  of  the 
rich  pastures  of  Clitumnus,'^  and  with  a  neck  that  must  be 
struck  by  a  ministering  priest  of  great  strength,  to  do  honor 
to  the  return  of  my  friend  who  is  still  trembling,  and  has  re- 
cently endured  great  horrors,  and  wonders  to  find  himself 
safe. 

For  besides  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  and  the  stroke  of  the 
lightning  which  he  escaped,  thick  darkness  obscured  the  sky 
in  one  huge  cloud,  and  a  sudden  thunder-bolt  struck  the 
yard-arms,  while  every  one  fancied  he  was  struck  by  it,  and 
at  once,  amazed,  thought  that  no  shipwreck  could  be  com- 
pared in  horror  with  a  ship  on  fire.^    For  all  things  hap- 

1  Matris.  Cf.  Hor.,  iv.,  Od.  ii.,  54,  Me  tener  solvet  vitulus,  reiicta 
matre." 

2  Nascenti.  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  xiii.,  4,  "  Cui  frons  turgida  cornibus  Pri- 
mis  et  Venerem,  et  prselia  destinat." 

"  He  flies  his  mother's  teat  with  playful  scorn, 
And  butts  the  oak-trees  with  his  growing  horn."  Hodgson. 

3  Hispulla.  Cf.  vi.,  74,  "  Hispnlla  tragsedo  gaudet."  (This  was  the 
name  of  the  aunt  of  Pliny  the  Younger's  wife,  iv.,  Ep.  19  ;  viii.,  1],) 

*'  Huge  as  Hispulla :  scarcely  to  be  slain 
But  by  the  stoutest  servant  of  the  train."  Badham. 
*  CUtumnuswas  a  small  river  in  Umbria  flowing  into  the  Tinia,  now 
Topino,"  near  Mevania,  now  "Timia."    The  Tinia  discharges  it- 
self into  the  Tiber  near  Perusia.    Pliny  (viii.,  Ep.  8)  gives  a  beautiful 
description  ofits  source,  now  called  "  La  Vene,"  in  a  letter  which  is, 
as  Giff"ord  says,  a  model  of  elegance  and  taste.    Its  waters  were  sup- 
posed to  give  a  milk-white  color  to  the  cattle  who  drank  of  them. 
Virg.,  Georg.,  ii,.  146,  "Hinc  albi,  Clitumne,  greges,  et  maxima  tau- 
rusvictima."    Propert.,  II.,  xix.,  25,  "Qua  formosa  suo  Clitumnus 
flumina  luco  Integit  et  niveos  abluit  unda  boves,"  Sil.,  iv.,547,  "  Cli- 
tumnus in  arvis  Candentes  gelido  perfundit  flumine  tauros."  Clau- 
dian.,  vi..  Cons.  Hon.,  506. 

5  Ignis.  Grang?eus  interprets  this  of  the  meteoric  fires  seen  in  the 
Mediterranean,  which,  when  seen  single,  were  supposed  to  be  fatal. 
Plin.,  ii.,  37,  "  Graves  cum  solitarii  venerunt  raergentesque  navigia, 
et  si  in  carinse  ima  deciderint,  exurentes."  These  fires,  when  double^ 
were  hailed  as  a  happy  omen,  as  the  stars  of  Castor  and  Pollux. 
"  Fratres  Helense  lucida  sidera,"  Hor.,  I.,  Od.  iii.,  2;  cf.  xii.,  27.  The 


172 


JUVENAL. 


pen  so,  and  with  such  horrors  accompanying,  when  a  storm 
arises  in  poetry.^ 

Now  here  follows  another  sort  of  danger.  Hear,  and  pity 
him  a  second  time  ;  although  the  rest  is  all  of  the  same  de- 
scription. Yet  it  is  a  very  dreadful  part,  and  one  well 
known  to  many,  as  full  many  a  temple  testifies  with  its  vo° 
tive  picture.  (Who  does  not  know  that  painters'-^  are  main- 
tained by  Isis  ?)  A  similar  fortune  befell  our  friend  Catul- 
lus also  :  when  the  hold  was  half  full  of  water,  and  when  the 
waves  heaved  up  each  side  alternately  of  the  laboring  ship, 
and  the  skill  of  the  hoary  pilot  could  render  no  service,  he 
began  to  compound  with  the  winds  by  throwing  overboard, 
imitating  the  beaver  who  makes  a  eunuch^  of  himself,  hop- 
ing to  get  off  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  testicles  ;  so  well  does 


French  call  it  Le  feu  St.  Elme,"  said  to  be  a  corruption  of"  He- 
lena." The  Italian  sailors  call  them  "  St.  Peter  and  St.  Nicholas." 
But  these  only  appear  at  the  close  of  a  storm.  Cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  seq.,  and 
Blunt's  Vestiges,  p.  37. 

1  Poetica  tempestas. 

"  So  loud  the  thunder,  such  the  whirlwind's  sweep, 
As  when  the  poet  lashes  up  the  deep."  Hodgson. 

2  Pictores.  So  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  v.,  13,  "  Me  tabula  sacer  votiva  paries  in- 
dicat  noida  suspendisse  potenti  vestimenta  maris  Deo."  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  custom  for  persons  in  peril  of  shipwreck  not  only  to 
vow  pictures  of  their  perilous  condition  to  some  deity  in  case  they  es- 
caped, but  also  to  have  a  painting  of  it  made  to  carry  about  with 
them  to  excite  commiseration  as  they  begged.  Cf.  xiv.,  302,  '^Nau- 
fragus  assem  dum  rogat  et  picta  se  tempestate  tuetur."   Pers.,  i.,  89, 

Quum  fracta  te  in  trabe  pictum  ex  humero  portes."  VI.,  32,  Lar- 
gire  inopi,  ne  pictus  oberret  cserulea  in  tabula."  Hor.,  A.  P.,  20, 
"Fractis  enatat  exspes  navibus,  sere  dato  qui  pingitur."  Phsed., 
IV.,  xxi.,  24.  Some  think  that  this  picture  was  afterward  dedicated, 
but  this  is  an  error. 

^  Castora.  Ov.,  Nux.,  165,  "Sic  ubi  detracta  est  a  te  tibi  causa  peri- 
cli  Quod  superest  tutum,  Pontice  Castor,  habes ! "  The  story  of  the 
beaver  is  told  Plin.,  viii.,  30;  xxxvii.,  6,  and  is  repeated  by  Silius,  in 
a  passage  copied  from  Ovid  and  Juvenal.  "  Fluminei  veluti  depren- 
sus  gurgitis  undis,  Avulsa  parte  inguinibus  eausdque  pericli,  Enatat 
intento  prsedse  fiber  avius  hoste,"  xv.,  485.  But  it  is  an  error.  The 
sebaceous  matter  called  castoreum  (Pers.,  v.,  135),  is  secreted  by  two 
glands  near  the  root  of  the  tail.  (Vid.  Martyn's  Georgics,  i.,  59, 
*' Virosaque  Pontus  Castorea,"  and  Browne's  Vulgar  Errors,  lib.iii., 
4.)  Pliny,  viii,,  3,  tells  a  similar  story  of  the  elephant,  "  Circumventi 
a  venantibus  dentes  impactos  arbori  frangunt,  prxddque  se  redinmnt.'' 


SATIRE  XII. 


lie  know  their  medicinal  properties.  Throw  overboard 
all  that  belongs  to  me,  the  whole  of  it !  "  cried  Catullus, 
eager  to  throw  over  even  his  most  beautiful  things — a  robe 
of  purple  fit  even  for  luxurious  Maecenases,  and  others 
whose  very  fleece  the  quality  of  the  generous  pasture  has 
tinged,  moreover  the  exquisite  water  with  its  hidden  prop- 
erties, and  the  atmosphere  of  Baetica^  contributes  to  enhance 
its  beauty.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  cast  overboard  even  his 
plate,  salvers  the  workmanship  of  Parthenius,  a  bowP  that 
would  hold  three  gallons,  and  worthy  of  Pholus  when 
thirsty,  or  even  the  wife  of  Fuscus.^  Add  to  these  bas- 
caudse,^  and  a  thousand  chargers,  a  quantity  of  embletic 
work,  out  of  which  the  cunning  purchaser  of  Olynthus^  had 
drunk.  But  what  other  man  in  these  days,  or  in  what  quar- 
ter of  the  globe,  has  the  courage  to  prefer  his  life  to  his 

1  Bseticus.  The  province  of  Bsetica  (Andalusia)  takes  its  name  from 
the  Bsetis,  or  Guadalquiver,"  the  waters  of  which  were  said  to 
give  a  ruddy  golden  tinge  to  the  fleeces  of  the  sheep  that  drank  it. 
Martial  alludes  to  it  repeatedly.  "Non  est  lana  mihi  mendax,  nee 
mutor  aeno.  Si  placeant  Tyriae  me  mea  tinxit  ovis,"  xiv.,  Ep.  133. 
Cf.  v.,  37;  viii.,  28.  "  Vellera  nativo  pallentubi  flava  metallo,"  ix., 
62.    "  Aurea  qui  nitidis  vellera  tingis  aquis,"  xii.,  99. 

"  Away  went  garments  of  that  innate  stain 
That  wool  imbibes  on  Guadalquiver's  plain, 
From  native  herbs  and  babbling  fountains  nigh, 
To  aid  the  powers  of  Andalusia's  sky."  Badham. 

2  Urnx.  Vid.  ad  vi.,  426.  Pholus  was  one  of  the  Centaurs.  Virg., 
G^org.,  ii.,  455.  Cf.  Stat.,  Thebaid.,  ii.,  564,  seg.,  "Qualis  in  adversos 
Lapithas  erexit  inanem  Magnanimus  cratera  Pholus,"  etc. 

3  Conjuge  Fasci.    Vid.  ad  ix.,  117. 

4  Bascaudas.  The  Celtic  word  "  Basgawd  "  is  said  to  be  the  root  of 
the  English  word  ''basket."  Vid.  Latham's  English  language,  p,  98. 
These  were  probably  vessels  surrounded  with  basket  or  rush  work. 
Mart.,  xiv.,  Ep.  99,  "Barbara  de  pictis  veni  bascauda  Britannis;  sed 
me  jam  mavolt  dicere  Roma  suam." 

^  Olynthi,  Philip  of  Macedon  bribed  Lasthenes  and  Eurycrates  to 
betray  Olynthus  to  him,  Pliny  (xxxiii.,  5)  says  he  used  to  sleep  with 
a  gold  cup  under  his  pillow.  Once,  when  told  that  the  route  to  a  ^ 
castle  he  was  going  to  attack  was  impracticable,  he  asked  whether 
"  an  ass  laden  with  gold  could  not  possibly  reach  it."  Plut.,  Apophth., 
ii.,p.  178. 

"  A  store 

Of  precious  cups,  high  chased  in  golden  ore  ; 

Cups  that  adorn  d  the  crafty  Philip's  state, 

And  bought  his  entrance  at  th'  Olynthian  gate,"  Hodgson. 


174 


JUVENAL. 


money,  and  his  safety  to  his  property?  Some  men  do  not 
make  fortunes  for  the  sake  of  living,  but,  blinded  by  avarice, 
live  for  the  sake  of  money-getting.  The  greatest  part  even 
of  necessaries  is  thrown  overboard  ;  but  not  even  do  these 
sacrifices  relieve  the  ship — then,  in  the  urgency  of  the 
peril,  it  came  to  such  a  pitch  that  he  yielded  his  mast  to  the 
hatchet,  and  rights  himself  at  last,  though  in  a  crippled 
state.  Since  this  is  the  last  resource  in  danger  we  apply,  to 
make  the  ship  lighter. 

Go  now,  and  commit  your  life  to  the  mercy  of  the  winds  ; 
trusting  to  a  hewn  plank,  with  but  four  digits^  between  you 
and  death,  or  seven  at  most,  if  the  deal  is  of  the  thickest. 
And  then  together  with  your  provision-baskets  and  bread 
and  wide-bellied  flagon, ^  look  well  that  you  lay  in  hatchets.^ 
to  be  brought  into  use  in  storms. 

But  when  the  sea  subsided  into  calm,  and  the  state  of  affairs 
was  more  propitious  to  the  mariner,  and  his  destiny  pre- 
vailed over  Eurus  and  the  sea,  when  now  the  cheerful  Parcse 
draw  kindlier  tasks  with  benign  hand,  and  spin  white  wool,* 
and  what  wind  there  is,  is  not  much  stronger  than  a  mod- 
erate breeze,  the  wretched  bark,  with  a  poor  make-shift,  ran 
before  it,  with  the  sailors'  clothes  spread  out,  and  with  its 
only  sail  that  remained  :  when  now  the  south  wind  subsided, 

1  Digitis.  Cf.  xiv.,  289,  "  Tabula  distinguitur  unda."  Ovid,  Amor., 
ii.,  xi.,  25,  Navita  sollicitus  qua  ventos  horret  iniquos  ;  Et  prope  tarn 
letum  quam  prope  cernit  aquam." 

"  Trust  to  a  little  plank  'twixt  death  and  thee, 
And  by  four  inches  'scape  eternity."  Hodgson. 

2  Ventre-lagense.   "  A  gorbellied  flagon."  Shakespeare. 

3  Secures.    "  His  biscuit  and  his  bread  the  sailor  brings 

On  board  :  'tis  well.   But  hatchets  are  the  things." 
•  Badham. 

4  Staminis  albi.  The  "white"  or  "black"  threads  of  the  Parcae 
were  supposed  to  symbolize  the  good  or  bad  fortune  of  the  mortal 
whose  yarn  Clotho  was  spinning.  Mart.,  iv.,  Ep,  73,  "  Ultima  vol- 
ventes  orabat  pensa  sorores,  Ut  traherent  parva  stamina  pulla  mora." 
VI.,  Ep.  58,  "Si  mihi  lanificse  ducunt  non  pulla  sorores  Stamina." 
Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  iii.,  16,  "  Sororum  fila  trium  patiuntur  atra." 


SATIRE  XII.  175 


together  with  the  sun  hope  of  life  returned.  Then  the  tall 
peak  beloved  by  lulus,  and  preferred  as  a  home  by  him  to 
Lavinium/  his  step-mother's  seat,  comes  in  sight;  to  which 
the  white  so w^  gave  its  name — (an  udder  that  excited  the 
astonishment  of  the  gladdened  Phrygians) — illustrious  from 
what  had  never  been  seen  before,  thirty  paps.  At  length  he 
enters  the  moles,  ^  built  through  the  waters  inclosed  within 
them,  and  the  Pharos  of  Tuscany,  and  the  arms  extending 
back,  which  jut  out  into  the  middle  of  the  sea,  and  leave 
Italy  far  behind.  You  would  not  bestow  such  admiration 
on  the  harbor  which  nature  formed  :  but  with  damaged 
bark,  the  master  steers  for  the  inner  smooth  waters  of  the 
safe  haven,  which  even  a  pinnace  of  Baise  could  cross  ;  and 
there  with  shaven  crowns*  the  sailors,  now  relieved  from 
anxiety,  delight  to  recount  their  perils  that  form  the  sub- 
ject of  their  prating. 

1  Prselata  Lavino.  Virg.,  .^n.,  i.,  267,  seq,  Liy.,  i.,  i,  3.  TibuU.,  II., 
v.,  49 

2  Scrofa.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iii.,  390,  "Littoreis  ingens  inventa  sub  ilici- 
bus  sus,  Triginta  capitum  foetus  enixa  jacebit,  Alba  solo  recubans, 
albi  circum  ubera  nati.  Is  locus  urbis  erit,  requies  ea  certa  laborum  ;" 
and  viii.,  43. 

^  Moles.  This  massive  work  was  designed  and  begun  by  Julius 
Caesar,  executed  by  Claudius,  and  repaired  by  Trajan.  It  is  said  to 
have  employed  thirty  thousand  men  for  eleven  years,  Suetonius 
thus  describes  it  (Claud.,  c.  20):  "Portum  Ostiae  exstruxit  circum- 
ducto  dextra  smistraque  brachis,  et  ad  introitum  profundo  jam  solo 
mole  objecta,  quam  quo  stabilius  fundaret,  navem  ante  demersit,  qua 
magnus  obeliscus,  ex  ^gypto  fuerat  advectus;  congestisque  pilis 
superposuit  altissimam  turrim  in  exemplum  Alexandrini  Phari,  ut 
ad  nocturnos  ignes  cursum  navigia  dirigerent."  (Cf.  vi.,  83.  The 
Pharos  of  Alexandria  was  built  by  Sostratus,  and  accounted  one  of 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.) 

"  Enter  the  moles,  that  running  out  so  wide 
Clasp  in  their  giant  arms  the  billowy  tide, 
That  leave  afar  diminishing  the  land. 

More  wondrous  than  the  works  of  nature's  hand."  Hodgson. 
4  Vertice  raso.  It  was  the  custom  in  storms  at  sea  to  vow  the  hair 
to  some  god,  generally  Neptune:  and  hence  slaves,  when  manu- 
mitted, shaved  their  heads,  '*  quod  tempestatem  servitutis  videbantur 
effugere,  ut  naufragis  liberati  solent."  Cf.  Pers.,  iii.,  106,  "Hesterni 
capite  inducto  subiere  Quirites."  Hodgson  has  an  excellent  note  on 
the  "mystical  attributes  "  of  hair. 


176 


JUVENAL. 


Go  then,  boys,  favoring  with  tongues  and  minds,  ^  and  place 
garlands  in  the  temples,  and  meal  on  the  sacrificial  knives, 
and  decorate  the  soft  hearths  and  green  turf-altar.  I  will 
follow  shortly,  and  the  sacrifice  which  is  most  important* 
having  been  duly  performed,  I  will  then  return  home,  where 
my  little  images,  shining  in  frail  wax,  shall  receive  their 
slender  chaplets.  Here  I  will  propitiate^  my  own  Jove, ' 
and  offer  incense  to  my  hereditary  Lares,*  and  will  display 
all  colors  of  the  violet.  All  things  are  gay  ;  my  gateway 
has  set  up  long  branches,^  and  celebrates  the  festivities^  with 
lamps  lighted  in  the  morning. 

Nor  let  these  things  be  suspected  by  you,  Corvinus.  Ca- 
tullus, for  whose  safe  return  I  erect  so  many  altars,  has  three 
little  heirs.  You  may  wait  long  enough  for  a  man  that 
would  expend  even  a  sick  hen  at  the  point  of  death  for  so 
unprofitable  a  friend.  But  even  this  is  too  great  an  outlay. 
Not  even  a  quail  will  ever  be  sacrificed  in  behalf  of  one  who 


^  Lmguis  animisque  faventes.  Cic,  de  Div.,  i.,  102,  "Omnibus  rebus 
agendis,  Quod  bonum,  faustum,  felix,  fortunatumque  esset,  prsefa- 
bantur ;  rebusque  divinis,  quae  publice  fierent,  ut  faverent  Unguis 
imperabant :  inque  feriis  imperandis  ut  litibus  et  jurgiis  se  abstine- 
rent."  Cf.  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  i.,  2,  "Favete  Unguis."  Virg.,  ^n.,v.,  71, 
"Ore  favete  omnes."  Hor.,  Od.,  III.,  xiv.,  11 ;  TibuU.,  II.,  ii.,  2, "  Quis- 
quis  ades  Ungua,  vir,  muUerque  fave."  So  €V(f)r)^elv,  cf.  Eurip.,  Hec, 
528,  seq. 

2  Sacro  quod  prssstat;  i.e.,  the  sacrifices  mentioned  in  the  beginning 
of  the  Satire,  viz.,  to  Juno,  PaUas,  and  Tarpeian  Jove,  and  therefore 
more  important  than  those  to  the  Lares. 

3  Flacabo.    Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  36, 1.  OreU. 

4  Nostrum,  i.e.,  his  own  Lar  famiUaris.  Cf.  ix.,  137,  "  O  Parvi  nos- 
trique  Lares."  For  the  worship  of  these  Lares,  Junones,  and  Genius, 
see  Dennis's  Etruria,  vol.  i.,  p.  Iv. 

5  Erexit  janua  ramos.    Cf.  ad  ix.,  85. 

6  Operatur  festa.  Perhaps  read  with  Lipsius,  "operitur  festa,"  "  in 
festive-guise  is  covered  with."  Virgil,  however,  uses  "operatus" 
similarly.  Georg.,  i.,  389,  "Sacra  refer  Cereri  Isetis  operatus  in 
herbis."  Cfadix.,117. 

"  AU  savors  here  of  joy  :  luxuriant  bay 
O'ershades  my  portal,  while  the  taper's  ray 
Anticipates  the  feast  and  chides  the  tardy  day."  Giflford. 


SATIRE  XIL 


177 


is  a  father.  If  rich  Gallita^  and  Paccius,  who  have  no  chil- 
dren, begin  to  feel  the  approach  of  fever,  every  temple- 
porch  is  covered  with  votive  tablets,^  affixed  according  to 
due  custom.  There  are  some  who  would  even  promise  a 
hecatomb^  of  oxen.  Since  elephants  are  not  to  be  bought 
here  or  in  Latium,  nor  is  there  any  where  in  our  climate 
such  a  large  beast  generated  ;  but,  fetched  from  the  dusky 
nation,  they  are  fed  in  the  Rutulian  forests,  and  the  field  of 
Turnus,  as  the  herd  of  Caesar,  prepared  to  serve  no  private 
individual,  since  their  ancestors  used  to  obey  Tyrian  Hanni- 
bal, and  our  own  generals,*  and  the  Molossian  king,  and  to 
bear  on  their  backs  cohorts — no  mean  portion  of  the  war — 
and  a  tower  that  went  into  battle.  It  is  no  fault,  conse- 
quently, of  Novius,  or  of  Ister  Pacuvius,^  that  that  ivory  is 
not  led  to  the  altars,  and  falls  a  sacred  victim  before  the 
Lares  of  Gallita,  worthy  of  such  great  gods,  and  those  that 
court  their  favor  !  One  of  these  two  fellows,  if  you  would 
give  him  license  to  perform  the  sacrifice,  would  vow  the 
tallest  or  all  the  most  beautiful  persons  among  his  flock  of 
slaves,  or  place  sacrificial  fillets  on  his  boys  and  the  brows 

1  Gallita.  Tacitus  (Hist.,  i.,  73)  speaks  of  a  Gallita  Crispilina,  or,  as 
some  read,  Calvia  Crispinilla,  as  a"inagistra  libidinum  Neronis," 
and  as  "  potens  pecunid  et  orbitate,  quae  bonis  malisque  temporibus 
juxta  valent . ' '    Paccius  Africanus  is  mentioned  also  Hist. ,  iv, ,  41 . 

2  Tabellis.  Cf.  ad  x.,  55,  "  Propter  quae  fas  est  genua  incerare  deo- 
rum." 

3  Hecatomben.  The  hecatomb  properly  consisted  of  oxen,  100  being 
sacrificed  simultaneously  on  100  different  altars.  But  sheep  or  other 
victims  were  also  offered.  The  poor  sometimes  vowed  an  oiojv  eKarofx^r). 
Emperors  are  said  to  have  sacrificed  100  lions  or  eagles.  Suetonius 
says,  that  above  160,000  victims  were  slaughtered  in  honor  of  Cali- 
gula's entering  the  city.    Calig.,  c.  14. 

4  Nostris  ducibus.  Curius  Dentatus  was  the  first  to  lead  elephants 
in  triumph.  Metellus,  after  his  victory  over  Asdrubal,  exhibited  two 
hundred  and  four.  Plin..  viii. ,  6.  L.  Scipio,  father-in-law  to  Pom- 
pey,  employed  thirty  in  battle  against  Caesar.  The  Romans  first  saw 
elephants  in  the  Tarentine  war,  against  Pyrrhus  ;  and  as  they  were 
first  encountered  in  Lucania,  they  gave  the  elephant  the  name  of 
"Bos  Lucas."  So  Hannibal.  See  x.,  158,  "Gaetula  ducem  portaret 
bellua  luscum." 

&  Ister  Pacuvius.    Cf.  ii.,  58. 

8* 


178 


JUVENAL. 


of  his  female  slaves.  And  if  he  has  any  Iphigenia*  at  home 
of  marriageable  age,  he  will  offer  her  at  the  altars,  though 
he  can  not  hope  for  the  furtive  substitution  of  the  Jiind  of 
the  tragic  poets.  I  commend  my  fellow -citizen,  and  do  not 
compare  a  thousand^  ships  to  a  will ;  for  if  the  sick  man 
shall  escape  Libitina,^  he  will  cancel  his  former  will,  en- 
tangled in  the  meshes  of  the  act,*  after  a  service  so  truly 
wonderful  :  and  perhaps  in  one  short  line  will  give  his  all  to 
Pacuvius  as  sole^  heir.  Proudly  will  he  strut  over  his  de- 
feated  rivals.  You  see,  therefore,  what  a  great  recompense 
the  slaughtered  Mycenian  maid  earns. 

Long  live  Pacuvius,  I  pray,  even  to  the  full  age  of  Nes- 
tor.® Let  him  own  as  much  as  ever  Nero  plundered,"^  let 
him  pile  his  gold  mountains  high,  and  let  him  love  no  one,* 
and  be  loved  by  none. 

1  Jphigenia.  Cf.  ^sch.,  Ag.,  39,  seq.,  and  the  exquisite  lines  in  Lu- 
cretius, i.,  85-102 ;  but  Juvenal  seems  to  have  had  Ovid's  lines  in  his 
head.  Met.,  xii.,  28,  seq.,  "  Postquam  pietatem  publica  causa,  Rexque 
patrem  vicit,  castumque  datura  cmorem  Flentibus  ante  aram  stetit 
Iphigenia  ministris :  Victa  dea  est,  nubemque  oculis  objecit,  et  inter 
Officium  turbamque  sacri,  vocesque  precantum,  Supposita  fertur  mu- 
tasse  Mycenida  cervd. 

2  Mille.    ar6\ov  '  Apyeioiv  x^^^ovavrriv,    JEseh.,  Ag.,  44. 

3  Libitinam .  Properly  an  epithet  of  Venus  (the  goddess  who  pre- 
sides over  deaths  as  well  as  births),  iu  whose  temple  all  things  belong-- 
ing  to  funerals  were  sold.  Cf.  Plut.,  Qu.  Rom.,  23.  Servius  TuUius 
enacted  that  a  sestertius  should  be  deposited  in  the  temple  of  Venus 
Libitina  for  every  person  that  died,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  number 
of  deaths.  Dion.  Halic,  iv.,  79.  Cf.  Liv.,  xl.,  19;  xli.,  21.  Suet., 
Ner.,  39,  "  triginta  funerum  millia  in  ratiohem  Libitinse  venerunt." 
Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  xxx.,  6;  ii.,  Sat.  vi.,  19. 

4  Nassa  is  properly  an  "  osier  weel,"  /fvpri],  for  catching  fish.  Plin., 
xxi.,  18,  59. 

&  Solo.  Cf.  i.,  68,  "  Exiguistabulis  ;"  ii.,  58, "  Solotabulas  impleverit 
Hister  Liberto  ;"  vi.,  601, "  Impleret  tabulas." 
"  What  are  a  thousand  vessels  to  a  will ! 
Yes!  every  blank  Pacuvius'  name  shall  fill."  Hodgson. 

6  Nestora.  Cf.  Hom.,  XL,  i.,  250  ;  Od.,  iii.,  245.  Mart.,  vi.,  Ep.  Ixx., 
12,  "  ^tatem  Priami  Nestorisque."    X.,  xxiv.,  11.   Cf.  ad  x.,  246. 

7  Rapuit  Nero.  Vid.  Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,42,  Brotier's  note.  Suetonius 
(Nero,  c.  32),  after  many  instances  of  his  rapacity,  subjoins  the  fol- 
lowing :  Nulli  delegavit  officium  ut  non  adjiceret  Scis  quid  mihi 
opus  sit:"  et  "Hoc  agamus  ne  quis  quidquam  habeat."  "Ultimot 
emplis  compluribus  dona  detraxit." 

*  Nec  amet.   "  Nor  ever  be,  nor  ever  find,  a  friend  !"   Dry  den. 


SATIRE  XIIL 


179 


SATIRE  XIII. 


ARGUMENT. 

Calvinus  had  left  a  sum  of  money  in  the  hands  of  a  confidential 
person,  who,  when  he  came  to  re-demand  it,  forswore  the  deposit. 
The  indignation  and  fury  expressed  by  Calvinus  at  this  breach  of 
trust,  reached  the  ears  of  his  friend  Juvenal,  who  endeavors  to 
soothe  and  comfort  him  under  his  loss.  The  different  topics  of 
consolation  follow  one  another  naturally  and  forcibly,  and  the  hor- 
rors of  a  troubled  conscience  were  perhaps  never  depicted  with 
such  impressive  solemnity  as  in  this  Satire. 

Every  act  that  is  perpetrated,  that  will  furnish  a  prece- 
dent for  crime,  is  loathsome^  even  to  the  author  himself. 
This  is  the  punishment  that  first  lights  upon  him,  that  by 
the  verdict'^  of  his  own  breast  no  guilty  man  is  acquitted  ; 
though  the  corrupt  influence  of  the  praetor  may  have  made 
his  cause  prevail,  by  the  urn^  being  tampered  with.  What 
think  you,  Calvinus,*  is  the  opinion  of  all  men  touching 
the  recent  villainy,  and  the  charge  you  bring  of  breach  of 
trust  ?    But  it  is  your  good  fortune  not  to  have  so  slender  an 

1  Displicet. 

"  To  none  their  crime  the  wished-for  pleasure  yields ; 
'Tis  the  first  scourge  that  angry  justice  wields."  Badham. 

2  TJltio. 

"  Avenging  conscience  first  the  sword  shall  draw. 
And  self-conviction  baffle  quibbling  law."  Hodgson. 

3  TJrna.  From  the  "Judices  Selecti"  (a  kind  of  jurymen  chosen 
annually  for  the  purpose),  the  Praetor  Crbanus,  who  sat  as  chief  judge, 
chose  by  lot  about  fifty  to  act  as  his  assessors.  To  each  of  these  were 
given  three  tablets:  one  inscribed  with  the  letter  A.  for  "absolvo," 
one  with  the  letter  C.  for  "  condemno,"  and  the  third  with  the  letters 
N.  L.  for  "non  liquet,"  /.e.,"not  proven."  After  the  case  had  been 
heard  and  the  judices  had  consulted  together  privately,  they  re- 
turned into  court,  and  each  judex  dropped  one  of  these  tablets  into 
an  urn  provided  for  the  purpose,  which  was  afterward  brought  to  the 
praetor,  who  counted  the  number  and  gave  sentence  according  to  the 
majority  of  votes.  In  all  these  various  steps,  there  was  plenty  of 
opportunity  for  the  "gratia"  of  a  corrupt  praetor  to  influence  the 
"  fallax  urna." 

4  Calvinus.  Martial  mentions  an  indifferent  poet  of  the  name  of 
Calvinus  Umber,  vii.,  Ep.  90. 


i8o 


JUVENAL. 


income,  that  the  weight  of  a  trifling  loss  can  plunge  you 
into  ruin  ;  nor  is  what  you  are  suffering  from  an  unfrequent 
occurrence.  This  is  a  case  well  known  to  many — worn 
threadbare— drawn  from  the  middle  of  fortune's  heap.^ 

Let  us,  then,  lay  aside  all  excessive  complaints.  A  man^s 
grief  ought  not  to  blaze  forth  beyond  the  proper  bounds,  nor 
exceed  the  loss  sustained.  Whereas  you  can  scarcely  bear 
even  the  very  least  diminutive  particle  of  misfortune,  how- 
ever trifling,  boiling  with  rage  in  your  very  bowels  because 
your  friend  does  not  restore  to  you  the  deposit  he  swore  to 
return.  Can  he  be  amazed  at  this,  that  has  left  threescore 
years  behind  him,  born  when  Fonteius  was  consul  P  Have 
you  gained^  nothing  by  such  long  experience  of  the  world? 
Noble  indeed  are  the  precepts  which  philosophy,  that  tri- 
umphs over  fortune,  lays  down  in  her  books  of  sacred  wis- 
dom. Yet  we  deem  those  happy  too  who,  with  daily  life* 
for  their  instructress,  have  learned  to  endure  with  patience 
the  inconveniences  of  life,  and  not  shake  off  the  yoke.^ 

What  day  is  there  so  holy  that  is  not  profaned  by  bringing 
to  light  theft,  treachery,  fraud — filthy  lucre  got  by  crime  of 
every  dye,  and  money  won  by  stabbing  or  by  poison  ?^  Since 


1  Acervo.      One  that  from  casual  heaps  without  design 

Fortune  drew  forth,  and  bade  the  lot  be  thine."  Badh. 

2  Fonteio  consule.  Clinton.  (F.  R.,  a.d.  118)  considers  that  the  con- 
sulship meant  is  that  of  L.  Fonteius  Capito,  a.d.  59,  which  would 
bring  the  reference  in  this  Satire  to  a.d.  119,  the  third  year  of  Ha- 
drian. There  was  also  a  Fonteius  Capito  consul  with  Junius  Rufus, 
A.D.  67,  and  another,  a.d.  11.  [The  Fonteius  Capito  mentioned  Hor., 
i.,  Sat.  v.,  32,  is  of  course  far  too  early.] 

3  Froficis.   "  Say,  hast  thou  naught  imbibed,  no  maxims  sage, 

From  the  long  use  of  profitable  age?"  Hodgson. 
*  Vitse.   So  Milton.  "  To  know 

That  which  before  us  lies  in  daily  life^ 
Is  the  prime  wisdom." 
6  Jaciarejugum.    A  metaphor  from  restive  oxen.   Cf.  vi.,  208. "  Sum- 
mitte  caput  cervice  parata  Ferre  jugum."    ^Esch.,  Persae,  190,  seq. 
"  And  happy  those  whom  life  itself  can  train 
To  bear  with  dignity  life's  various  pain."   Badham . 
6  Pyxide.   Properly  a  cofifer  or  casket  of  "  box-wood,"  -nviiq.  Ct 


SATIRE  XIII. 


i8i 


rare  indeed  are  the  good  !  their  number  is  scarce  so  many  as 
the  gates  of  Thebes,^  or  the  mouths  of  fertilizing  Nile.  We 
are  now  passing  through  the  ninth  age  of  the  world  :  an  era 
far  worse  than  the  days  of  Iron  ;  for  whose  villainy  not  even 
Nature  herself  can  find  a  name,  and  has  no  metaP  base 
enough  to  call  it  by.  Yet  we  call  heaven  and  earth  to  wit- 
ness, with  a  shout  as  loud  as  that  with  which  the  Sportula,* 
that  gives  them  tongues,  makes  his  clients  applaud  Faesidius 
as  he  pleads.  Tell  me,  thou  man  of  many  years,  and  yet 
more  fit  to  bear  the  boss*  of  childhood,  dost  thou  not  know 
the  charms  that  belong  to  another's  money  ?  Knowest  thou 
not  what  a  laugh  thy  simplicity  would  raise  in  the  common 
herd,  for  expecting  that  no  man  should  forswear  himself,  but 
should  believe  some  deity  is^  really  present  in  the  temples  and 
at  the  altars  red  with  blood  ?  In  days  of  old  the  aborigines 
perhaps  used  to  live  after  this  fashion  :  before  Saturn  in  his 
flight  laid  down  his  diadem,  and  adopted  the  rustic  sickle  : 

Sat.  ii.,  141,  "  Condita  pyxide  Lyde."  Suet.,  Ner.,  47,  *'  Veneno  a  Lo- 
custsi  sumpto.  et  in  auream  pyxidem  condito." 

^  Thebarum.  Egyptian  Tliebes  had  one  hundred  gates ;  hence 
e^aTOjaTTvAot.  Cadineian  Thebes  had  seven.  Vid.  Horn.,  II.,  A.,  406. 
^sch,  S.  Th.,  e7rTa7ru/.o9  ©X|8>?.  The  latter  is  meant.  The  mouths  of 
the  Nile  being  also  seven,  viz.,  Canopic,  Bolbitine,  Sebennytic,  Phat- 
nitic,  Mendesian,  Tanitic,  and  Pelusiac.  Hence  Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  801, 
"  Septem  gemini  trepida  ostia  Nili."  Ov.,  Met.,  v.,  187,  *'  Septemplice 
Nilo."   XV.,  753,  "  Perque  papyriferi  septemflua  flumina  Nili." 

2  Metallo. 

"  That  baffled  Nature  knows  not  how  to  frame 
A  metal  base  enough  to  give  the  age  a  name."  Dryden. 
^  Sportula.  Vid.  ad  i.,  118.  Cf.  x.,  46,  "  Defossa  in  loculis  quos 
sportula  fecit  amicos."  Mart.,  vi.,  Ep,  48.  Hor.,  i.,  Epist.  xix.,  37. 
Plin.,  ii.,  Ep.  14,  "Laudicseni  sequuntur:  In  media  Basilica  sportulae 
dantur  palam  ut  in  triclinio  :  tanti  constat  ut  sis  disertissimus  :  hoc 
pretio  subsellia  implentur,  hoc  infiniti  clamores  commoventur." 

4  Build.    Cf.  v.,  165,  seq.;  xiv.,  5.  Pers.,  v.,  31,  "  Bullaque  succinctis 
Laribus  donata  pependit.    Plut.  in  Quaest.  Rom.,  yepcjv  rts*  enl 
X^cvaafxiio  Trpodyerai  rraiSiKdv  ivaipdyLevoT  nepiStpaiov  o  KaXovcri  ^ovWav^ 
**  O  man  of  many  years  that  still  should'st  wear 
The  trinket  round  the  neck  thy  childhood  bare  !"  Badham. 
^  Esse.   Cf.  ii.,  149,  seq.,  "  Esse  aliquos  Manes  et  subterranea  regna, 
.  .  .  Nec  pueri  credunt  nisi  qui  nondum  sere  lavantur."   Cf  Ov., 
Amor.,  III.,  iii.,  1. 


I82  JUVENAL. 


in  the  days  when  Juno  was  a  little  maid  ;  and  Jupiter  as 
yet  in  a  private^  station  in  the  caves  of  Ida  :  no  banquetings 
of  the  celestials  above  the  clouds,  no  Trojan  boy  or  beaute- 
ous wife  of  Hercules  as  cup-bearer  ;  or  Vulcan  (but  not  till 
he  had  drained  the  nectar)  wiping^  his  arms  begrimed  with 
his  forge  in  Lipara.  Then  each  godship  dined  alone  ;  nor 
was  the  crowd  of  deities  so  great^  as  it  is  nowadays  :  and 
the  heavens,  content  with  a  few  divinities,  pressed  on  the 
wretched  Atlas  with  less  grievous  weight.  No  one  had  as 
yet  received  as  his  share  the  gloomy  empire  of  the  deep  : 
nor  was  there  the  grim  Pluto*  with  his  Sicilian  bride,  nor 
Ixion's  wheel,  nor  the  Furies,  nor  Sisyphus'  stone,  nor  the 
punishment  of  the  black  vulture,^  but  the  shades  passed 
jocund  days  with  no  infernal  king. 

In  that  age  villainy  was  a  prodigy  !  They  used  to  hold  it 
as  a  heinous  sin,  that  naught  but  death  could  expiate,  if  a 
young  man  had  not  risen  up  to  pay  honor  to  an  old  one,^  or  a 

1  Privatus.  This  is  commonly  rendered  by  "concealed,  seques- 
tered," alluding  to  Jupiter's  being  hidden  by  his  mother  Rhea  to  save 
him  from  "  Saturn's  maw."  But  it  surely  means  before  he  succeeded 
his  father  as  king,  and  this  is  the  invariable  sense  of  "  privatus  "  in 
Juvenal.  Cf.  i.,  16,  *'  Privatus  ut  altum  dormiret."  iv.,  65,  "Accipe 
Privatis  majora  focis."  vi.,  114,  "Quid  privata  domus,  quid  fecerit 
Hippia,  curas."  xii.,  107,  "  Csesaris  armentum,  nulli  servire  paratum 
Privato." 

"  Tergens.  This  appears  to  be  the  best  and  simplest  interpretation 
of  this  "  much-vexed  "  passage,  and  is  the  sense  in  which  Lucian 
(frequently  the  best  commentator  on  Juvenal)  takes  it.  Vid.  Deor., 
Dial,  v.,  4. 

3  Talis.  More  properly,  "  composed  of  such  divinities."  The  allu- 
sion being  in  all  probability  to  the  now  frequent  apotheosis  of  the 
most  worthless  and  despicable  of  the  emperors. 

4  Torvus.  The  Homeric  afxelXixoT.  Cf.  Hom.,  11.,  1.,  158,  'Ai'Srjs- 
d/jisiXiXoTy  rjS'  dSdnaaroS'  TovvcKa  Kai  t£  ^poroXai  ^cdv  exOia-roT  dirdv- 

TOiV. 

5  Vulturis  atri.  Cf.  ^schylus,  Pr.  V.,  1020.  Virg.,  ^n..  vi.,  595, 
i "  Rostroque  immanis  vultur  obunco,  Immortale  jecur  tondens, 

foecundaque  poenis  viscera,  rimaturque  epulis  habitatque  sub  alto 
pectore,  nee  fibris  requies  datur  ulla  renatis." 

"  Wheels,  furies,  vultures,  quite  unheard  of  things, 
And  the  gay  ghosts  were  strangers  yet  to  kings !"  Badham. 

6  Vetulo.  Cf.  Ov.,  Fast.,  v.,  57,  neq,,  which  passage  Juvenal  seems  to 
have  had  in  his  mind. 


SATIRE  XIII. 


183 


U  7  to  one  whose  beard  was  grown  ;  even  though  he  himself 
gii:>ated  over  more  strawberries  at  home,  or  a  bigger  pile  of 
acorns.^ 

So  just  a  claim  to  deference  had  even  four  years'  priority  ; 
so  much  on  a  par  with  venerated  old  age  was  the  first  down 
of  youth  !  Now,  if  a  friend  should  not  deny  the  deposit^  in- 
trusted to  him,  if  he  should  give  back  the  old  leathern  purse 
with  all  its  rusty*  coin  untouched,  it  is  a  prodigy  of  honesty, 
equivalent  to  a  miracle,*  fit  to  be  entered  among  the  marvels 
in  the  Tuscan  records,^  and  that  ought  to  be  expiated  by  a 
lamb  crowned  for  sacrifice.^  If  I  see  a  man  above  the  com- 
mon herd,  of  real  probity,  I  look  upon  him  as  a  prodigy  equal 
to  a  child  born  half  man,  half  brute  or  a  shoal  of  fish  turned 
up  by  the  astonished^  plow  ;  or  a  mule^  with  foal !  in  trepi- 


1  Glandis.   Cf.  Sat.,  vi.,  init. 

2  Bepositum.  Terent.,  Phorm.,  I.,ii.,  5,  "Prsesertim  ut  nunc  sunt 
mores :  adeo  res  redit ;  Si  quis  quid  reddit,  magna  habenda  'st 
gratia." 

3  JErugo,  the  rust  of  brass;  robigo,  of  iron;  but,  1.  148,  used  for  the 
oxydizing  of  gold  or  silver.    Follis,  cf.,  xiv.,  281. 

4  Prodigiosa,  ii.,  103. 

5  Tuscis  libellis.  Vid.  Dennis'  Etruria,  vol.  i.,  p.  Ivii.  The  marvel- 
ous events  of  the  year  were  registered  by  the  Etruscan  soothsayers 
in  their  records,  tliat,  if  they  portended  the  displeasure  of  the  gods, 
they  might  be  duly  expiated.  Various  names  are  given  by  ancient 
writers  to  these  sacred  or  ritual  books:  Libri  Etrusci;  Chartse  Etru- 
scse ;  Scripta  Etrusca  ;  Etruscse  disciplinse  libri ;  libri  fatales,  ritu- 
ales,  haruspicini,  fulgurales;  libri  Tagetici;  sacra  Tagetica;  sacra 
Acherontica ;  libra  Acherontici.  The  author  of  these  works  on  Etrus- 
can discipline  was  supposed  to  be  Tages;  and  the  names  of  some 
writers  on  the  same  subject  are  given,  probably  commentators  on 
Tages,  e.g.,  Tarquitius,  Csecina,  Aquila.  Labeo,  Begoe.  Umbricius. 
Cf.  Cic,  de  Div.,  i.,  12, 13,  44 ;  ii.,  23.  Liv.,  v.,  15.  Macrob.,  Saturn., 
iii.,  7;  v.  19.  Serv.  ad  Virg.,  ^n.,  i.,  42:  ill.,  537;  viii.,  398.  Plin., 
ii.,  85.   Festus,  s.  v.  Rituales. 

6  Sanctum.    Cf.  iii.,  137 ;  viii.,  24. 

7  Bimemhri,  or  "with  double  limbs."  All  these  prodigies  are  com, 
mon  enough  in  Livy. 

8  Miranti  is  quite  Juvenalian,  and  better  than  the  common  reading 
"Mirandis,"  or  the  suggestion  *'  liranti." 

9  Mulx.  Cf.  Cic,  de  Div.,  ii.,  28,  "  Si  quod  raro  fit,  id  portentum  pu- 
tandum  est  sapientem  esse  portentum  est ;  ssepius  enim  mulam  pe- 
derisse  arbitror,  quam  sapientem  fuisse." 


JUVENAL. 


dation  as  great  as  though  the  storm-cloud  had  rained  stones  ;^ 
or  a  swarm  of  bees^  had  settled  in  long  cluster  from  some 
temple's  top  ;  as  though  a  river  had  flowed  into  the  ocean 
with  unnatural  eddies,^  and  rushing  impetuous  with  a 
stream  of  milk. 

Do  you  complain  of  being  defrauded  of  ten  sestertia  by  im- 
pious fraud  ?  What  if  another  has  lost  in  the  same  way  two 
hundred,  deposited  without  a  witness  !*  and  a  third  a  still 
larger  sum  than  that,  such  as  the  corner  of  his  capacious 
strong-box  could  hardly  contain  !  So  easy  and  so  natural  is 
it  to  despise  the  gods  above, ^  that  witness  all,  if  no  mortal 
man  attest  the  same  !  See  with  how  bold  a  voice  he  denies 
it !  What  unshaken  firmness  in  the  face  he  puts  on  !  He 
swears  by  the  sun's  rays,  by  the  thunderbolts  of  Tarpeian 
Jove,  the  glaive  of  Mars,  the  darts  of  the  prophet-god  of 
Cirrha,^  by  the  arrows  and  quiver  of  the  Virgin  Huntress, 
and  by  thy  trident,  O  Neptune,  father  of  the  jEgsean  !  He 
adds  the  bow  of  Hercules,  Minerva's  spear,  and  all  the 
weapons  that  the  arsenals  of  heaven  hold."'    But  if  he  be  a 

^  Lapides.  Cf.  Liv.,  xxxix.,  37.  This  prodigy  was  one  of  the 
causes  of  consulting  the  sacred  books,  which  led  to  the  introduction 
of  the  worship  of  Bona  Dea  to  Rome.  Cf.  ad  ix.,  37.  Liv.,  xxii.,  1., 
*'  Prseneste  ardentes  lapides  coelo  cecidesse." 

2  Apium.  Cf.  Liv.,  xxiv.,  10.  Tac,  Ann.,  xii.,  64,  "Fastigo  Capi- 
tolii  examen  apium  iusedit:  biformes  hominem  partus."  Plin., 
xi.,  17. 

^  Gurgitibus.  Liv.,  xix.,  44,  "Flumen  Amiterni  cruentum  flux- 
isse."   Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  485,    Aut  puteis  manare  cruor  cessavit." 

4  Arcana.  "  Fidei  alterius  tacite  commissa  sine  ullis  testibus."  Lu- 
bin.  Another  interpretation  is,  "that,  having  lost  it,  he  held  his 
tongue,  and  complained  to  no  one." 

5  Superos. 

"  Those  conscious  powers  we  can  with  ease  contemn, 
If,  hid  from  men,  we  trust  our  crimes  with  them."  Dryden. 

6  Cirrhssi,  from  Cirrha,  in  Phocis,  near  the  foot  of  Mount  Parnassus, 
the  port  of  Delhi.  Cf.  vii.,  64,  "Dominis  Cirrhse  Nysseque  feruntur 
Pectora." 

7  Spicvla,  probably  from  Tibull.,  I.,  iv.,  21. 

"  Nec  jurare  time.  Veneris  perjuria  venti 
Irrita  per  terras  et  freta  summa  ferunt. 
Perque  suas  impune  sinit  Dictynna  sagittas 
Affirmes,  crines  perque  Minerva  suos." 


SATIRE  XIII.  185 


father  also,  he  says,  am  ready  to  eat  my  wretched  son's 
head  boiled,  swimming  in  vinegar  from  Pharos. ' '  ^ 

There  are  some  who  refer  all  things  to  the  accidents  of  for- 
tune, ^  and  believe  the  universe  moves  on  with  r^one  to  guide 
its  course  ;  while  nature  brings  round  the  revolutions  of 
days  and  years.  And  therefore,  without  a  tremor,  are  ready 
to  lay  their  hands^  on  any  altar.  Another  does  indeed  dread 
that  punishment  will  follow  crime  ;  he  thinks  the  gods  do 
exist.  Still  he  perjures  himself,  and  reasons  thus  with  hinf- 
self  :  Let  Isis*  pass  whatever  sentence  she  pleases  upon  my 
body,  and  strike  my  eyes  with  her  angry  Sistrum,  provided 
only  that  when  blind  I  may  retain  the  money  I  disown. 
Are  consumption,  or  ulcerous  sores,  or  a  leg  shriveled 
to  half  its  bulk,  such  mighty  matters?  If  Ladas^  be 
poor,  let  him  not  hesitate  to  wish  for  gout  that  waits  on 
wealth,  if  he  is  not  mad  enough  to  require  Anticyra^  or 

1  Phario.  The  vinegar  of  Egypt  was  more  celebrated  than  its  wine. 
Cf.  Mart,  xiii.,  Ep.  122.    Ath.,  ii.,  26. 

2  Fortunas.  See  this  idea  beautifully  carried  out  in  Claudian's  in- 
vective against  Rufinus,  lib.  i.,  1-24.    Such  was  Horace's  religion. 

Credat  Judeeus  Apella,  Non  ego :  nanique  deos  didici  securum 
agere  sevum ;  nec  si  quid  miri  faciat  Natura  deos  id  tristes  ex  alto 
coeli  demittere  tecto."  I.,  Sat.,  v.  100.  Not  so  Cicero.  "  Intelligamus 
nihil  horum  esse fortuitumJ'   De  Nat.  Deo^,,  ii.,  128, 

3  Tangunt.  Cf.  xiv.,  218,  "  Vendet  perjuria  summa  exigue  et  Cere- 
ris  tangens  aramq.  pedemq." 

4  Isis.  Cf.  vi.,  526.  Lucan.,  viii.,  831,  "  Nos  in  templa  tuam  Ro- 
mana  accepimus  Isim  Semideosque  canes,  et  sistra  jubentia  luctus  et 
quern  tu  plangens  hominem  testaris  Osirin."  Blindness,  the  most 
common  of  Egyptian  diseases,  was  supposed  to  be  the  peculiar  inflic- 
tion of  Isis.  Cf.  Ovid,  ex  Pont.,  i.,  51,  "  Vidi  ego  linigerse  numen 
violasse  fatentem  Isidis  Isiacos  ante  sedere  focos.  Alter  ob  huic  si- 
milem  privatus  lumine  culpam,  clamabat  media  se  meruisse  via." 
Pers.,  v.,  186,  "Tunc  grandes  Galli  et  cum  sistro  lusca  sacerdos." 
Sistrum  a  o-eiw. 

5  Ladas.  A  famous  runner  at  Olympia,  in  the  days  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  Cf.  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  100,  "  Habeas  licebit  alterum  pedem 
Ladse,  Inepte,  frustra  crure  ligneo  curres;  "  and  ii.,  86,  Catull.,  iv., 
24,  "  Non  si  Pegaseo  ferar  volatu,  Non  Ladas  si  ego,  pennipesve  Per- 
seus." 

6  Anticyrd,  in  Phocis,  famous  for  hellebore,  supposed  to  be  of  great 
efficacy  in  cases  of  insanity  :  hence  Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  iii.,  83,  Nesc^(7  .-^n 
Anticyram  ratio  illis  destinet  omnem."   166,  "  naviget  Anycyra«u.*' 


i86 


JUVENAL, 


Archigenes.^  For  what  avails  the  honor  of  his  nimble  feet,  or 
the  hungry  branch  of  Pisa's  olive  ?  All-powerful  though  it  be. 
that  anger  of  the  gods,  yet  surely  it  is  slow-paced  !  If,  there- 
fore, they  set  themselves  to  punish  all  the  guilty,  when  will 
they  come  to  me  ?  Besides,  I  may  perchance  discover  that 
the  deity  may  be  appeased  by  prayers  !  It  is  not  unusual  with 
him  to  pardon^  such  perjuries  as  these.  Many  commit  the 
same  crimes  with  results  widely  different.  One  man  re- 
ceives crucifixion^  as  the  reward  of  his  villainy  ;  another,  a 
regal  crown  ! " 

Thus  they  harden  their  minds,  agitated  by  terror  inspired 
by  some  heinous  crime.  Then,  when  you  summon  him  to 
swear  on  the  sacred  shrine,  he  will  go  first  !*  Nay,  he  is 
quite  ready  to  drag  you  there  himself,  and  worry  you  to  put 
him  to  this  test.  For  when  a  wicked  cause  is  backed  by  im- 
pudence, it  is  believed  by  many  to  be  the  confidences  of  in- 
nocence.   He  acts  as  good  a  farce  as  the  runaway  slave,  the 

Pers.  iv.,  16,  Anticyras  melior  sorbere  meracas."  Its  Greek  name  is 
'AfTiKtppa.  Strabo,  ix.,  3.  The  quantity  therefore  in  Latin  follows 
the  Greek  accent.  The  Phocian  Anticyra  produced  the  best  helle- 
bore ;  but  it  was  also  found  at  Anticyra  on  the  Maliac  Gulf,  near 
CEta.  Some  think  there  was  a  third  town  of  the  same  name.  Hence 
'•Tribus  Anticyris  caput  insanabile."  Hor.,  A.  P.,  300. 

1  Archigene.   Cf.  vi.,  236 ;  xiv.,  252. 

2  Ignoscere.  "  Contemnere  pauper  creditur  atque  deos  diis  ignos- 
centibus  ipsis,"  iii.,  145.   So  Plautus : 

"  Atque  hoc  scelesti  illi  in  animum  inducunt  suum. 
Jovem  se  placare  posse  donis  hostiis, 
Et  operam  et  sumptum  perdunt :  ideo  fit,  quia 
Nihil  ei  acceptum  est  a  perjuris  supplicii." 

3  Crucem.  Badham  quotes  an  Italian  epigram,  which  says  that 
^'  the  successful  adventurer  gets  crosses  hung  on  him,  the  unsuccessful 
gets  hung  on  the  cross.'' 

"  Some  made  by  villainy,  and  some  undone. 
And  this  ascend  a  scaffold,  that  a  throne."  Gifford. 
*  Praecedit. 

"  Dare  him  to  swear,  he  with  a  cheerful  face 
Flies  to  the  shrine,  and  bids  thee  mend  thy  pace  : 
He  urges,  goes  before  thee,  shows  the  way, 
Nay,  pulls  thee  on,  and  chides  thy  dull  delay."  Dryden. 
5  Fiducia,  > 

"  For  desperate  boldness  is  the  rogue's  defense, 
And  sways  the  court  like  honest  confidence."  Hodgson. 


SATIRE  XIII. 


buffoon  in  Catullus'^  Vision  !  You,  poor  wretch,  cry  out  so 
as  to  exceed  Stentor^  or,  rather,  as  loudly  as  Gradivus'  in 
Homer:  '^Hearest  thou*  this,  great  Jove,  and  openest  not 
thy  lips,  when  thou  oughtest  surely  to  give  vent  to  some 
word,  even  though  formed  of  marble  or  of  brass  ?  Or,  why 
then  do  we  place  on  thy  glowing  altar  the  pious^  frankin- 
cense from  the  wrapper  undone,  and  the  liver  of  a  calf  cut 
up,  and  the  white  caul  of  a  hog  ?^  As  far  as  I  see,  there  is 
no  difference  to  be  made  between  your  image  and  the  statue 
of  Vagellius 

Now  listen  to  what  consolation  on  the  other  hand  he  can 
offer,  who  has  neither  studied  the  Cynics,  nor  the  doctrines 
of  the  Stoics,  that  differ  from  the  Cynics  only  by  a  tunic, ^ 
and  pays  no  veneration  to  Epicurus,^  that  delighted  in  the 

1  Catulli.  Cf.  ad  viii.,  186.  Urbani  some  take  as  a  proper  name. 
Others  in  the  same  sense  as  Sat.  vii.,  11.   Catull.,  xxii.,  2,  9. 

2  Stentora.  Hom.,  II.,  v.,  785,  Y.TtvTopa(pa\K€6(po>vov,  8g  roaov  avSfi- 
aaax'  oaov  aWoi  irevrriKOvra. 

3  Gradivus.  li.,  128.  Hom.,  II.,  v.,  859,  daaov  t  twEaX'^oi  ewiaxov 
n  ScKOLXi-^oi  avepeg — s^paxs. 

^  Audis.  Cf.  ii.,  130,  "  Nec  galeam  quassas  nec  terram  cuspide  pul- 
sas,  nec  quereris  patri?''  Virg.,  ^n.,  iv.,  206,  "  Jupiter  Omnipotens  ! 
Adspieis  haec?  an  te,  genitor,  quum  fulmina  torques,  nequicquam 
horremus?  csecique  in  nubibus  ignes  terrificant  animos  et  inania 
murmura  miscent?  "  Both  passages  are  ludicrously  parodied  in  the 
beginning  of  Lucian's  Timon. 

5  Thura.  So  Mart.,  iii.,  Ep.  ii.,  5,  "Thuris  piperisque  cucullus." 
Ovid,  Heroid.,  xi.,4.  Virgil  applies  the  epithet  pia  to  the  "  Vitta," 
^n.,  iv.,  637,  and  to  "  Far,"  v.,  745. 

6  Porci.    Cf.  X.,  355,  "  Exta,  et  candiduli  divina  tomacula  porci." 

7  Vagellius.  Perhaps  the  "desperate  ass"  mentioned  xvi.,  23.  Some 
read  Bathylli. 

8  Tunica.  The  Stoics  wore  tunics  under  their  gowns,  the  Cynics 
waistcoats  only,  or  a  kind  of  pallium,  doubled  when  necessary.  Hor., 
i.,  Ep.  xvii.,  25,  "  Contra,  quern  duplici  panno  patientia  ve  at."  Dio- 
genes pro  pallio  et  tunica  contentus  erat  una  abolla  ex  viii  panno 
confecta,  qua  dupliciter  amiciebatur.  Cynicorum  hunc  habitum 
ideo  vocabant  SmrXoX^a.  Hi  igitur  ^xt-rctiveT  quidem  sed  SiirXodparoi, 
Orell.,  ad  loc.  Cf.  Diog.  Laert.,  VI.,  ii.,  iii.,  22,  rpi^oiva  SnrXdjcras 
irpuiTOT. 

9  EpicuTum.  Cf.  xiv.,  319,  Quantum  Epicure  tibi  parvis  suffecit  in 
hostis."  Pliny  says,  xix.,  4,  he  was  the  first  who  introduced  the  cus- 
tom of  having  a  garden  to  his  town  house.   Prop.,  III.,  xxi.,  26, 


JUVENAL. 


plants  of  his  diminutive  garden.  Let  patients  whose  cases 
are  desperate  be  tended  by  more  skillful  physicians  ;  you 
may  trust  your  vein  even  to  Philippus'  apprentice.  If  you 
can  show  me  no  act  so  heinous  in  the  whole  wide  world, 
then,  I  hold  my  tongue  ;  nor  forbid  you  to  beat  your  breast 
with  your  fists,  nor  thump  your  face  with  open  palm.  For, 
since  you  really  have  sustained  loss,  your  doors  must  be 
closed  ;  and  money  is  bewailed  with  louder  lamentations 
from  the  household,  and  with  greater  tumult,^  than  deaths. 
No  one,  in  such  a  case,  counterfeits  sorrow  ;  or  is  content 
with  merely  stripping^  down  the  top  of  his  garment,  and 
vexing  his  eyes  for  forced  rheum. ^  The  loss  of  money  is 
deplored  with  genuine  tears. 

But  if  you  see  all  the  courts  filled  with  similar  complaints, 
if,  after  the  deeds  have  been  read  ten  times  over,  and  each 
time  in  a  different  quarter,*  though  their  own  handwriting, ^ 
and  their  principal  signet-ring,^  that  is  kept  so  carefully  in 
its  ivory  casket,  convicts  them,  they  call  the  signature  a  for- 


*'  Hortis  docte  Epicure,  tuis."  Stat.  Sylv.,  I.,  iii.,  94.  "The  garden  of 
Epicurus,''  says  GifFord,  "was  a  school  of  temperance;  and  would 
have  afforded  little  gratification,  and  still  less  sanction,  to  those  sen- 
sualists of  our  day,  who,  in  turning  hogs,  flatter  themselves  that  they 
are  becoming  Epicureans." 
1  Tumultu. 

"  And  louder  sobs  and  hoarser  tumults  spread 
For  ravish'd  pence,  than  friends  or  kinsmen  dead."  Hodgson. 
2-  Deducere.   Ov.,  Met.,  vi.,403,  "Dicitur  unus  flesse  Pelops  hume- 
rumque  suas  ad  pectora  postquam  deduxit  vestes,  ostendisse." 

3  Humore  coacto.  Ter.,  Eun.,  I.,  i.,  21,  "Hsec  verba  una  mehercle 
falsa  lacrymula  Quam  oculos  terendo  misere  vix  vi  expresserit  Res- 
tinguet."    Virg.,  ^n.,  ii.,  196,  "  captique  dolis  lacrymisque  coactis." 

4  Diversa  parte.  Others  interpret  it  as  being  "  read  by  the  opposite 
party  ;"  as  vii.,  156* "  quae  veniant  diversa  parte  sagittse." 

^  Vana  supervacui,  repeated  xvi.,  41 

6  Sardonychus.  Pliny  says  the  sardonyx  was  the  principal  gem  em- 
ployed for  seals, "  quoniam  sola  prope  gemmarum  scalpta  ceram  non 
aufert. ' '   xxxvii. ,  6. 

"  If  rogues  deny  their  bond  (though  ten  times  o'er 
Perused  by  careful  witnesses  before), 
Whose  well-known  hand  proclaims  the  glaring  lie. 
Whose  master-signet  proves  the  perjury."  Hodgson. 


SATIRE  XIII. 


gery  and  the  deed  not  valid  ;  do  you  think  that  you,  my  fine 
fellow,  are  to  be  placed  without  the  common  pale?  What 
makes  you  the  chick  of  a  white  hen,  while  we  are  a  worthless 
brood,  hatched  from  unlucky  eggs  ?  What  you  suffer  is  a 
trifle  ;  a  thing  to  be  endured  with  moderate  choler,  if  you  but 
turn  your  eyes  to  crimes  of  blacker  dye.  Compare  with  it 
the  hired  assassin,  fires  that  originate  from  the  sulphur  of 
incendiaries,^  when  your  outer  gate  is  the  first  part  that 
catches  fire.  Compare  those  who  carry  off  the  ancient  tem- 
ple's massive  cups,^  incrusted  with  venerable  rust — the  gifts 
of  nations  ;  or,  crowns^  deposited  there  by  some  king  of 
ancient  days.  If  these  are  not  to  be  had,  there  comes 
some  sacrilegious  wretch  that  strikes  at  meaner  prey  ;  who 
will  scrape  the  thigh  of  Hercules  incased  in  gold,  and  Nep- 
tune's face  itself,  and  strip  off  from  Castor  his  leaf -gold. 
Will  he,  forsooth,  hesitate,  that  is  wont  to  melt  down  whole  the 
Thunderer*  himself?  Compare,  too,  the  compounders  and 
venders  of  poisons  ;^  or  him  that  ought  to  be  launched  into 
the  sea  in  an  ox's  hide,^  with  whom  the  ape,*^  herself  inno- 
cent, is  shut  up,  through  her  unlucky  stars.    How  small  a 


1  Incendia.  Of.  ix.,  98,  "Sumere  ferrum,  Fuste  aperire  caput,  can- 
delam  apponere  valvis,  non  dubitat." 

2  Grandia  pocula.  Alluding  perhaps  to  some  of  Nero's  sacrilegious 
spoliations.  Suet.,  Ner.,  32,  38.  It  was  customary  for  kings  and  na- 
tions allied  with  Rome  to  send  crowns  and  other  valuable  offerings 
to  the  temple  of  Capitoline  Jove  and  others. 

3  Coronas.    "  Gifts  of  great  nations,  crowns  of  pious  kings  ! 

Goblets,  to  which  undated  tarnish  clings ! "  Badham. 

4  Tonantem.  Vid.  Dennis's  Etruria,  vol.  i.,  p.  li.  Cf.  Suet.,  Nero, 
32,  fin.  Milman's  Horace,  p.  66. 

"Is  much  respect  for  Castor  to  be  felt 
By  those  whose  crucibles  whole  Thunderers  melt?  "  Badh. 
&  Mercatoremque  veneni.   Shakspeare,  Rom.  and  Jul., 
"  And  if  a  man  did  need  a  poison  now, 
Whose  sale  is  present  death  in  Mantua, 
Here  lives  a  caitiff  wretch  would  sell  it  him." 

6  Corio.  Browne  seems  to  understand  this  of  "a  leathern  canoe  or 
coracle,"  but? 

7  Simia.  Cf.  ad  viii.,  214,  "Cujus  supplicio  non  debeat  una  parari 
simia  nec  serpens  unus  nec  culeus  unus," 


190 


JUVENAL. 


portion  is  this  of  the  crimes  which  Gfillieiis,^  the  city's 
guardian,  listens  to  from  break  of  day  to  the  setting  of  the 
sun  !  Would  you  study  the  morals  of  the  human  race,  one 
house  is  quite  enough.  Spend  but  a  few  days  there,  and 
when  you  come  out  thence,  call  yourself,  if  you  dare,  a 
miserable  man  ! 

Who  is  astonished  at  a  goitred  throat^  on  the  Alps  ?  or  / 
who,  in  Meroe,^  at  the  mother's  breast  bigger  than  her 
chubby  infant?  Who  is  amazed  at  the  German's*  fierce 
gray  eyes,  or  his  flaxen  hair  with  moistened  ringlets  twisted 
into  horns  ?  Simply  because,  in  these  cases,  one  and  all  are 
alike  by  nature. 


1  GaUicus.  Statius  has  a  poem  (Sylv,,  I.,  iv.),  "  Soteria  pro  Rutilio 
Gallico."  "Quern  penes  intrepidae  mitis  custodia  Romse."  This 
book  was  probably  written,  cir.  a.d.  94,  after  the  Thebais.  This  Rut. 
GaUicus  Valens  was  prsefectus  urbis  and  chief  magistrate  of  police 
for  Domitian ;  probably  succeeding  Pegasus  (Sat.  iv.,  77),  who  was 
appointed  by  Vespasian.  For  the  o^ce,  see  Tac,  Ann.,  vi.,  10,  se^.  It 
was  in  existence  even  under  Romulus,  and  continued  through  the 
republic.  Augustus,  by  Maecenas'  advice,  greatly  increased  its 
authority  and  importance.  Its  jurisdiction  was  now  extended  to  a 
circuit  of  one  hundred  miles  Outside  the  city  walls.  The  prsefectus 
decided  in  all  causes  between  masters  and  slaves,  patrons  and  clients, 
guardians  and  wards;  had  the  inspection  of  the  mint,  the  regulation 
of  the  markets,  and  the  superintendence  of  public  amusements. 

2  Guttur.  This  affection  has  been  attributed,  ever  since  the  days  of 
Vitruvius,  to  the  drinking  the  mountain  water,  "^qjaicolis  in  Al- 
pibus  est  genus  aquae  quam  qui  bibunt  af&ciuntur  iumidis  guttur ibus," 
viii.,  3. 

3  Mero'e,  yi.,  52S,  in  Ethiopia,  is  the  largest  island  formed  by  the 
Nile,  with  a  city  of  the  same  name,  which  was  the  capital  of  a  king- 
dom. Strab.,  i.,  75.  Herod.,  ii.,  29.  It  is  now"Atbar,"  and  forms 
part  of  Sennaar  and  Abyssinia. 

4  Germani.  Cf.  ad  viii.,  2b2.—Flavam.  Galen  says  the  Germans 
should  be  called  Trvppol  rather  than  ^av<|)ot.  So  Mart.,  xiv.,  Ep.  176, 
"  Rufus  Batavus."  Sil.,  iii.,  608,  "  Auricomus  Batavus."— Tor^^^e^i^m. 
Cf.  Tac,  Germ.,  38,  '*  Insigne  gentis  obliquare  crinem  nodoque  sub- 
stringere  :  horrentem  capillum  retro  sequuntur  ac  ssepe  in  solo  ver- 
tice  religant:  in  altitudinem  quandam  et  terrorem  adituri  bella 
compti,  ut  hostium  oculis  ornantur."  Mart.,  Spe.,  iii.,  *'  Crinibus  in 
nodum  tortis  venere  Sigambri."  They  moistened  their  hair  with  a 
kind  of  soft  soap.  Plin.,  xxviii.,  12.  Mart.,  xiv.,  26,  "  Caustica  Teu 
tonicos  accendit  spuma  capillos."  VIII.,  xxxiii.,  20,  "  Fortior  et  tor- 
tos  servat  vesica  capillos,  et  mutat  Latias  spuma  Batava  comas." 


SATIRE  XIII. 


igi 


The  pigrayi  warrior  in  his  puny  panoply  charges  the 
swooping  birds  of  Thrace,  and  the  cloud  that  resounds  with 
the  clang  of  cranes.  Soon,  no  match  for  his  foe,  he  i& 
snatched  away  by  the  curved  talons,  and  borne  off  through 
the  sky  by  the  fierce  crane.  If  you  were  to  see  this  in  our 
country,  you  would  be  convulsed  with  laughter  :  but  there, 
though  battles  of  this  kind  are  sights  of  every  day,  no  one 
even  smiles,  where  the  whole  regiment  is  not  more  than  a 
foot  high. 

And  is  there,  then,  to  be  no  punishment  at  all  for  this 
perjured  wretch  and  his  atrocious  villainy?" 

Well,  suppose  him  hurried  away  at  once,  loaded  with 
double  irons,  and  put  to  death  in  any  way  our  wrath  dictates 
(and  what  could  revenge  wish  for  more?),  still  your  loss  re- 
mains the  same,  your  deposit  will  not  be  refunded!  ^^But 
the  least  drop  of  blood  from  his  mangled  body  will  give  me 
a  consolation  that  might  well  be  envied.  Revenge  is  a  bless- 
ing, sweeter  than  life  itself  !  "  Yes  !  so  fools  think,  whose 
breasts  you  may  see  burning  with  anger  for  trivial  causes, 
sometimes  for  none  at  all.  How  small  soever  the  occasion  be, 
it  is  matter  enough  for  their  wrath.  Chrysippus^  will  not 
hold  the  same  language,  nor  the  gentle  spirit  of  Thales,  or 


1  Pygmseus.  Cf.  Stat.  Sylv.,  I.,  vi.,  57,  from  which  it  appears  that 
Domitian  exhibited  a  spectacle  of  pigmy  gladiators.  "  Hie  audax 
subit  ordo  pumilonum— edunt  vulnera  conseruntque  dextras  et  mor- 
tem sibi  (qua  manu !)  minantur.  Ridet  Mars  pater  et  cruenta  vir- 
tus.  Casuraeque  vagis  grues  rapinis  mirantur  pumilos  ferociores." 

"  When  clouds  of  Thracian  birds  obscure  the  sky, 
To  arms!  To  arms!  the  desperate  Pigmies  cry*: 
But  soon  defeated  in  th'  unequal  fray, 
Disorder'd  flee :  while  pouncing  on  their  prey 
The  victor  cranes  descend,  and  clamoring,  bear 
The  wriggling  manikins  aloft  in  air."  Giiford. 

2  Chrysippus  the  Stoic,  disciple  of  Cleanthes  and  Zeno,  a  native  of 
Tarsus  or  Soli,  dvfip  sixpvrjg  iv  Traprl  fxepci.  Vid.  Diog.  Laert.  in  Vit., 
who  says  he  "  was  so  renowned  a  logician,  that  had  the  gods  used 
logic  they  would  have  used  that  of  Chrysippus."   VII.,  vii. ,  2. 


192 


JUVENAL. 


that  old  man  that  lived  by  swee».  Hymettus'^  hill,  who,  even 
amid  those  cruel  bonds,  would  not  have  given  his  accuser 
one  drop  of  the  hemlock^  he  received  at  his  hands  ! 

Philosophy,  blessed^  power  !  strips  us  by  degrees  of  full 
many  a  vice  and  every  error !  She  is  the  first  to  teach  us 
what  is  right.  Since  revenge  is  ever  the  pleasure  of  a  pal- 
try spirit,  a  weak  and  abject  mind  !  Draw  this  conclusion 
at  once  from  the  fact,  that  no  one  delights  in  revenge  more 
than  a  woman  ! 

Yet,  why  should  you  deem  those  to  have  escaped  scot-free 
whom  their  mind,*  laden  with  a  sense  of  guilt,  keeps  in  con- 
stant terror,  and  lashes  with  a  viewless  thong  !  Conscience, 
as  their  tormentor,  brandishing  a  scourge  unseen  by  human 
eyes  !  Nay  !  awful  indeed  is  their  punishment,  and  far 
more  terrible  even  than  those  which  the  sanguinary  Caedi- 
tius^  invents,  or  Rhadamanthus  !  in  bearing  night  and  day 
in  one's  own  breast  a  witness  against  one's  self. 

The  Pythian  priestess  gave  answer  to  a  certain  Spartan,^ 


1  Hymetto.  As  though  the  hill  sympathized  with  the  sweetness  of 
Socrates'  mind.  Cf.  Plato  in  Phsed.  and  Apol.  Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  vi.,  14, 
**Ubinon  Hymetto  mella  decedunt,"  "And  still  its  honey'd  fruits 
Hymettus  yields."  Byron. 

2  Cicutse.   Cf.  vii.,  206.   Pers.,  iv.,  2. 

3  Felix.    "  Divine  Philosophy  !  by  whose  pure  light 

We  first  distinguish,  then  pursue  the  right, 

Thy  power  the  breast  from  every  error  frees, 

And  weeds  out  all  its  vices  by  degrees ; 

Illumined  by  thy  beam,  Revenge  we  find 

The  abject  pleasure  of  an  abject  mind, 

And  hence  so  dear  to  poor,  weak  womankind ! "  Gifford. 

4  Conscia  mens.  Cf.  Sen.,  Ep.  97,  "Prima  et  maxima  peccantium 
poena  est  peccassps ;  Secundse  vero  poense  sunt  timere  semper  et  expave- 
scere  etsecuritati  diftidere  et  fatendum  est  mala  facinora  conscientia 
flagellariet  plurimum  illic  tormentorum  esse,"  etc.  Cf.^^sch.,  Eumen., 
150,5i'7rd  (pptvaq  vno  \o^6v  irdpeari  ixaariKropog  Sa'l'ov  Safxiov  ^apv  k.  t,  X. 

5  Cseditius.  An  agent  of  Nero's  cruelty,  according  to  some ;  a  san- 
guinary judge  of  Vitellius'  days,  according  to  Lubinus.  Probably  a 
different  person  from  the  Cseditius  mentioned  xvi.,  46.  Rhadaman- 
thus. Cf.  Virg.,  Mn.,  vi.  566,  "Gnossius  hsec  Rhadamanthus  h^bet 
durissima  regna,  castigatque  auditque  doles,  subgitque  fateri,"  etc. 

6  Spartano.  The  story  is  told  Herod.,  vi..  86.   A  Milesian  intrusted 


SATIRE  XIII. 


193 


that  in  time  to  come  he  should  not  go  unpunished,  because 
he  hesitated  as  to  retaining  a  deposit,  and  supporting  his 
villainy  bv  an  oath.  For  he  inquired  what  was  the  opinion 
of  the  deity,  and  whether  Apollo  counseled  him  to  the  act. 

He  did  restore  it  therefore;  but  through  fear,^  not  from 
principle.  And  yet  he  proved  that  every  word  that  issued 
from  the  shrine  was  worthy  of  the  temple,  and  but  too  true  : 
being  exterminated  together  with  all  his  progeny  and  house, 
and,  though  derived  from  a  wide-spreading  clan,  with  all  his 
kin  !  Such  is  the  penalty  which  the  mere  wish  to  sin  in- 
curs. For  he  that  meditates  within  his  breast  a  crime  that 
finds  not  even  vent  in  words, has  all  the  guilt  of  the  act ! 

What  then  if  he  has  achieved  his  purpose  ?  A  respiteless 
anxiety  is  his  :  that  ceases  not,  even  at  his  hours  of  meals  ; 
while  his  jaws  are  parched  as  though  with  fever,  and  the  food 
he  loathes  swells^  between  his  teeth.  All  wines*  the  miserable 
wretch  spits  out ;  old  Alban  wine,^  of  high-prized  antiquity, 


a,  sum  of  money  to  Glaucus  a  Spartan,  who,  when  the  Milesian's  sons 
claimed  it,  denied  all  knowledge  of  it,  and  went  to  Delphi  to  learn 
whether  he  could  safely  retain  it ;  but,  terrified  at  the  answer  of  the 
oracle,  he  sent  for  the  Milesians  aud  restored  the  money.  Leotychi- 
des  relates  the  story  to  the  Athenians,  and  leaves  them  to  draw  the 
inference  froiji  the  fact  he  subjoins:  FXavKov  vvv  ovre  n  a-rrhyovov 
kavLv  ovSev,  ovr^  iffrir}  ovSsfxir]  vofjLi^Ojxhri  eXvai  T\avKOv^  eKTSTpiTrraC  re 
irpoppi^og  Ik  "ZTrdprris. 

1  Metu.    "  Scared  at  this  warning,  he  who  sought  to  try 

If  haply  heaven  might  wink  at  perjury, 

Alive  to  fear,  though  still  to  virtue  dead, 

Gave  back  the  treasure  to  preserve  his  head."  Hodgson. 

2  Taciturn.   Cf.  King  John,  Act  iv., 

"  The  deed  which  both  our  tongues  held  vile  to  name ! " 
Of.  i.,  167,  "tacltd  sudant  prsecordia  culpa." 

*'Thas,  but  intended  mischief,  stay'd  in  time, 
Had  all  the  moral  guilt  of  finished  crime."  Badham. 

3  Crescente,  Ov.,  Heriod.,  xvi.,  226,  Orescit  et  invito  lentus  in  ore 
cibus." 

*  Sed  Vina.  Read  perhaps  "  Setina,"  as  v.  33. 

5  Albani:  Cf.  v.,  33,  "  Cras  bibet  Albanis  aliquid  de  montibus." 
Hor.,  iv.,  Od.  xi.,  1,  "  Est  mihi  nonum  superantis  annum  plenus  Al- 
bani cadus.  "  Mart.,  xiii.,  109,  "Hoc  de  Caesareis  Mitis  Vindemla 
€ellis  misit  luleo  quae  sibi  monte  placet." 

9 


194  JUVENAL. 


I  disgusts  him.  Set  better  before  him  !  and  thickly-crowding 
j  wrinkles  furrow  his  brow,  as  though  called  forth  by  sour^ 
Falernian.  At  night,  if  anxious  care  has  granted  him  per- 
chance a  slumber  however  brief,  and  his  limbs,  that  have 
been  tossing2  Qyer  the  whole  bed,  at  length  are  at  rest,  im- 
mediately he  sees  in  dreams  the  temple  and  the  altar  of  the 
deity  he  has  insulted  ;  and,  what  weighs  upon  his  soul  with 
especial  terrors,^  he  sees  thee  !  Thy  awful*  form,  of  more^ 
than  human  bulk,  confounds  the  trembling  wretch,  and 
wrings  confession^  from  him. 

These  are  the  men  that  tremble  and  grow  pale  at  every 
lightning-flash  ;  and,  when  it  thunders,'  are  half  dead  with 
terror  at  the  very  first  rumbling^  of  heaven ;  as  though  not 
i)j  mere  chance,  or  by  the  raging  violence  of  winds,  but  in 
wrath  and  vengeance  the  fire-bolt  lights^  upon  the  earth 

1  Velut  acri.  Or  perhaps,  "  as  though  the  rich  Falernian  were  sour 
instead  of  mellow." 

"  The  rich  Falernian  changes  into  gall."  Hodgson. 

2  Versata.  Cf.  iii.,  279.  Horn.,  II.,  xxiv.,  10,  seq.  Sen.,  de  Tranq, 
An.,  2,  "  versant  se  et  hoc  atque  illo  modo  componunt  donee  quietem 
lassitudine  inveniant."  Propert,  I.,  xiv.,  21,  "  Et  miserum  toto  juve- 
nem  versare  cubili.'' 

3  Sudoribus.  Cf.  i.,  167,  " /Swdan^  prsecordia  culpa."  Cf.  Ov.,  Her. 
vii.,  65. 

4  Major.  Virg.  ^n.,  il.,  773,  "Nota  major  imago."  Suet.,  Claud., 
i.,  species  mulieris  humand  amplior. 

5  Amplior.  Tac.  Ann.,  xi.,  21,  "oblata  ei  species  muliebris  ultra 
modum  humanum."   Suet.,  Aug.,  94. 

6  Cogitque  fateri.  The  idea  is  probably  from  Lucret.,  v.,  1157, 
**  Quippe  ubi  se  multei  per  somnia  ssepe  loquenteis,  Aut  morbo  deli- 
ranteis  protraxe  ferantur  Et  celata  diu  in  medium  peccata  dedisse." 

7  Quum  tonat.  Suet.,  Calig.,  51,  "  Nam  qui  deos  tantopere  contem- 
neret,  ad  minima  tonitrua  et  fulgura  connivere,  caput  obvolvere:  ad 
vero  majora  proripere  se  e  strato,  sub  lectumque  condere,  solebat." 

8  Murmure.  Lucret.,  v.,  1218,  "  Quoi  non  conrepunt  membra  pavore 
Fulminis  horribili  quom  plaga  torrida  tellus  Contremit  et  magnum 
percurrunt  murmura  ccelum?    Non  populei  gentesque  tremunt." 

9  Cadat.  "  Quseque  cadent  in  te  fulmina  missa  putes."  Ov.  Her., 
vii.,  72.  Pind.,  Nem.,  vi.,  90,  ^olkotov  cyxos.  Hor.,  i.,  Od.,  iii.,  40, 
*'  Iracunda  Jovem  ponere  fulmina." 

"  Where'er  the  lightning  strikes,  the  ftash  is  thought 
Judicial  fire,  with  heaven's  high  vengeance  fraught."  Bad. 
^0  Vindicet. 

"  Oh !  'tis  not  chance,  they  cry;  this  hideous  crash 


SATIRE  XIII. 


195 


That  last  storm  wrought  no  ill !  Therefore  the  next  is 
feared  with  heavier  presage,  as  though  but  deferred  by  the 
brief  respite  of  this  calm. 

Moreover,  if  they  begin  to  suffer  pain  in  the  side,  with 
wakeful  fever,  they  believe  the  disease  is  sent  to  their  bodies 
from  the  deity,  in  vengeance.  These  they  hold  to  be  the 
stones  and  javelins  of  the  gods  ! 

They  dare  not  vow  the  bleating  sheep  to  the  shrine,  or 
promise  even  a  cock's^  comb  to  their  Lares.  For  what  hope 
is  vouchsafed  to  the  guilty  sick  7^  or  what  victim  is  not  more 
worthy  of  life  ?  The  character  of  bad  men  is  for  the  most 
part  fickle  and  variable.  ^  While  they  are  engaged  in  the 
guilty  act  they  have  resolution  enough,  and  to  spare.  When 
their  foul  deeds  are  perpetrated,  then  at  length  they  begin  to 
feel  what  is  right  and  wrong. 

Yet  Nature*  ever  reverts  to  her  depraved  courses,  fixed  and 
immutable.  For  who  ever  prescribed  to  himself  a  limit  to 
his  sins  ?  or  ever  recovered  the  blush^  of  ingenuous  shame 
once  banished  from  his  brow  now  hardened  ?  What  mortal 
man  is  there  whom  you  ever  saw  contented  with  a  single 
crime  ?  This  false  friend  of  ours  will  get  his  foot  entangled 
in  the  noose,  and  endure  the  hook  of  the  gloomy  dungeon  ; 


Is  not  the  war  of  winds,  nor  this  dread  flash 

The  encounter  of  dark  clouds,  but  blasting  fire, 

Charged  with  the  wrath  of  heaven's  insulted  sire  !"  Gifford. 

1  Gain.   Cf.  xii.,  89,  96.   Plin.,  x.,  21,  56.    Plat.,  Phsed.,  66. 

2  jEgris.   "  Can  pardoning  heaven  on  guilty  sickness  smile  ? 

Or  is  there  victim  than  itself  more  vile?"  Badham. 

2  Mobilis.  Sen.,  Ep.  47,  "  Hoc  habent  inter  csetera,  boni  mores,  pla- 
cent  sibi  ac  permanent :  levis  est  malitia,  ssepe  mutatur,  non  in  me- 
lius, sed  in  aliud." 

4  Natura.  Hot.,  i.,  Ep.  x.,  24,  *'  Naturam  expellas  furcatamen  usque 
recurret." 

s  Ruhorem.  Mart.,  xi.,  Ep.  xxvii.,  7,  "Aut  cum  perfricuit  frontem 
posuitque  pudorem." 

"  Vice  once  indulged,  what  rogues  could  e'er  restrain? 
Or  what  bronzed  cheek  has  learn'd  to  blush  again?"  Hodgson, 


196 


JUVENAL. 


or  some  crag^  in  the  ^Egean  Sea,  or  the  rocks  that  Rwarm 
with  exiles  of  rank.  You  will  exult  in  the  bitter  punish- 
ment of  the  hated  name  ;  and  at  length  with  joy  confess^ 
that  no  one  of  the  gods  is  either  deaf  or  a  Tiresias.^ 


SATIRE  XIV. 


ARGUMENT. 

The  whole  of  this  Satire  is  directed  to  the  one  great  end  of  self-im- 
provement. By  showing  the  dreadful  facility  with  which  children 
copy  the  vices  of  their  parents,  the  poet  points  out  the  necessity  as 
well  as  the  sacred  duty  of  giving  them  examples  of  domestic  purity 
and  virtue.  After  briefly  enumerating  the  several  vices,  gluttony, 
cruelty,  debauchery,  etc.,  which  youth  imperceptibly  imbibe  from 
their  seniors,  he  enters  more  at  large  into  that  of  avarice ;  of  which 
he  shows  the  fatal  and  inevitable  consequences.  Nothing  can  sur- 
pass the  exquisiteness  of  this  division  of  the  Satire,  in  which  he 
traces  the  progress  of  that  passion  in  the  youthful  mind  from  the 
paltry  tricks  of  saving  a  broken  meal  to  the  daring  violation  of 
every  principle,  human  and  divine.  Having  placed  the  absurdity 
as  well  as  the  danger  of  immoderate  desires  in  every  point  of  view, 
he  concludes  with  a  solemn  admonition  to  rest  satisfied  with  those 
comforts  and  conveniences  which  nature  and  wisdom  require,  and 
which  a  decent  competence  is  easily  calculated  to  supply. 

There  are  very  many  things,  Fuscinus,*  that  both  deserve 
a  had  name,  and  fix  a  lasting  spot  on  a  fortune  otherwise 
splendid,  which  parents  themselves  point  the  way  to,  and 

1  Rupem.  Cf.  i.,  73,  "aliquid  brevibus  Gyaris  et  carcere  dignum." 
vi.,  563. 

"  Or  hurried  off  to  join  the  wretched  train 
Of  exiled  great  ones  in  the  ^gean  main."  Gifford. 

2  Fatebere.    Cf.  Psalm  Iviii.,  9, 10. 

3  Tiresiam.   Soph.,  CEd.  T.   Ovid,  Met.,  iii.,  322,  seq. 
^  Fuscinus.    Nothing  is  known  of  him. 

"  Fuscinus,  those  ill  deeds  that  sully  fame. 
And  lay  such  blots  upon  an  honest  name, 
In  blood  once  tainted,  like  a  current  run 
From  the  lewd  father  to  the  lewder  son."  Dryden. 


SATIRE  XIV. 


197 


inculcate  upon  their  children.  If  destructive  gambling^  de- 
lights the  sire,  the  heir  while  yet  a  child  plays^  too  ;  and 
shakes  the  selfsame  weapons  in  his  own  little  dice-box.  Nor 
will  that  youth  allow  any  of  his  kin  to  form  better  hopes  of 
him  who  has  learned  to  peel  truffles,^  to  season  a  mushroom/ 
and  drown  beccaficas^  swimming  in  the  same  sauce,  his 
gourmand  sire  with  his  hoary  gluttony^  showing  him  the 
way.  When  his  seventh'^  year  has  passed  over  the  boy's  head, 
and  all  his  second  teeth  are  not  yet  come,  though  you  range 
a  thousand  bearded^  philosophers  on  one  side  of  him,  and  as 
many  on  the  other,  still  he  will  be  ever  longing  to  dine  in 
sumptuous  style,  and  not  degenerate  from  his  sire's  luxuri- 
ous kitchen. 

Does  Rutilus^  inculcate  a  merciful  disposition  and  a  char- 
acter indulgent  to  venial  faults  ?  does  he  hold  that  the  souls 
and  bodies  of  our  slaves^^  are  formed  of  matter  like  our  own 


1  Alea,  i.,  89.  Cf.  Propert.,  IV.,  viii.,  45,  "  Me  quoque  per  talos  Ve- 
nerem  quserente  secundos,  Semper  damnosi  subsiluere  Canes."  The 
Romans  used  four  dice  in  throwing,  which  were  thrown  on  a  table 
with  a  rim  (alveolus  or  abacus),  out  of  a  dice-box  made  of  horn,  box- 
wood, or  ivory.  This  fritillus  was  a  kind  of  cup,  narrower  at  the  top 
than  below.  When  made  in  the  form  of  a  tower,  with  graduated  in- 
tervals, it  was  called  pyrgus,  turricula,  or  phimus. 

2  Ludit.    "  Repeats  in  minature  the  darling  vice  ; 

Shakes  the  low  box,  and  cogs  the  little  dice."  Gifford. 

3  Tuhera.    Cf.  v.,  116,  seq.   Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  50. 

4  Boletum.  Cf.  v.,  147.    Mart.,  Ep.  xiii.,  48. 

*  Ficedulas.  Mr.  Metcalfe  translates  "snipes."  Cf.  Mart.,  Ep.  xiii., 
49,  "  Cum  me  ficus  alat,  cum  pascar  dulcibus  uvis,  Cur  potius  nomen 
non  dedit  uva  mihi  ?  " 

6  Gula,  i.,  140. 

7  Septimus.  Plin.,  vii.,  16,  "  Editis  infantibus  primores  dentes  sep- 
timo  gignuntur  mense :  iidem  anno  septimo  decidunt,  aliique  suf- 
ficiuntur." 

8  Barbatos.  Pers.,  iv.,  1,  "Barbatum  hoc  crede  magistrum  dicere 
,  sorbitio  tollit  quem  dira  cicutse."   Cic,  Fin.,  iv.,  "Barba  sylvosa  et 

pulchre  alita,  quamvis  res  ipsa  sit  exterior  et  fortuita,  inter  hominis 
eruditi  insignio  recensetur." 

9  Rutilus.  Used  probably  indefinitely,  as  in  Sat.  xi.,  2,  "  Si  Rutilus, 
demens."  Rutilus  was  a  surname  of  the  Marcian,  Virginian,  and 
Nantian  clans. 

10  Servorum.  Gififord  quotes  an  apposite  passage  from  Macrobius,  i., 


198 


JUVENAL. 


and  of  similar  elements  ?  or  does  he  not  teach  cruelty,  that 
Rutilus,  who  delights  in  the  harsh  clang  of  stripes,  and 
thinks  no  Siren's^  song  can  equal  the  sound  of  whips  ;  the 
Antiphates^  and  Polyphemus  of  his  trembling  household  ? 
Then  is  he  happy  indeed  whenever  the  torturer^  is  sum- 
moned, and  some  poor  wretch  is  branded  with  the  glowing 
iron  for  stealing  a  couple  of  towels  !  What  doctrine  does  he 
preach  to  his  son  that  revels  in  the  clank  of  chains,  that 
feels  a  strange  delight  in  branded  slaves,*  and  the  country 
jail?  Do  you  expect  that  Larga's^  daughter  will  not  turn 
out  an  adulteress,  who  could  not  possibly  repeat  her 
mother's  lovers  so  quickly,  or  string  them  together  with 
such  rapidity,  as  not  to  take  breath  thirty  times  at  least? 
While  yet  a  little  maid  she  was  her  mother's  confidante; 
now,  at  that  mother's  dictation^  she  fills  her  own  little  tab- 
lets, and  gives  them  to  her  mother's  agents  to  bear  to  lovers 
of  her  own. 


2,  **Tibiautem  unde  in  servos  tantum  et  tarn  immane  fastidium? 
Quasi  non  ex  iisdem  tibi  constent  et  alantur  elementis,  eumdemque 
spiritum  ab  eodem  principe  carpant !  " 

1  Sirena.    Cf.  ix.,  150. 

2  Antip hates,  king  of  the  cannibal  Laestrygones.  Horn.,  Odys.,  x., 
114,  seq.   Ovid,  Met.,  xiv.,  233,  seq. 

3  Tortore.   Vi.,  480,  "  Sunt  quae  tortoribus  annua  praestent." 

"  Knows  no  delight,  save  when  the  torturer's  hand 
Stamps  for  low  theft  the  agonizing  brand."  GiflFord. 

4  Ergastula.  Cf.  ad  viii.,  180.  Put  here,  as  in  vi.,  151,  for  the  slaves 
themselves.  As  15  freemen  were  said  to  constitute  a  state,  and  15 
slaves  a  famUia,  so  "  quindedm  vincti  "  form  one  Ergastulum.  It  prop- 
erly means  the  Bridewell,  where  they  were  set  to  "  travaux  forcis." 
Liv.,  ii.,  23;  vii.,  4.  The  country  prisons  were  generally  under- 
ground dungeons.  Branding  on  the  forehead  was  a  common  punish- 
ment. Thieves  had  the  word  "  Fur"  burnt  in ;  hence  called  "  liter- 
ati homines,"  "homines  trium  literarum."  Plant.,  Aul.,  II.,  iv.,  46. 
Cicero  calls  one  "compunctum  notis,  stigmatiam,"  Off.,.ii-.7.  So 
"Inscripti  vultus,"  Plin.,  xviii.,  3.  "Inscripti,"  Martial,  Ep.  viii., 
79.   Cf.  Plin.,  Paneg.,  35.   Sat.  x.,  183.   Plaut.,  Cas.,  II.,  vi.,  49. 

5  Largx.  Cf.  vi.,  239,  "  Scilicet  expectas  ut  tradat  mater  honestos 
atque  alios  mores  quam  quos  habet? "  x.,  220,  "  Promptius  expediam 
quotamaverit  Hippia  maechos." 

^  Dictante.  vi.,  223,  "Ilia  docet  missis  a  corruptore  tabellis,  nil 
rude,  nil  simplex  rescribere." 


SATIRE  XIV. 


199 


Such  is  Nature^  s  law.^  The  examples  of  vice  that  we  wit- 
ness at  home^  more  surely  and  quickly  corrupt  us,  when  they 
insinuate  themselves  into  our  minds,  under  the  sanction  of 
those  we  revere.  Perhaps  just  one  or  two  young  men  may 
spurn  these  practices,  whose  hearts  the  Titan  has  formed 
with  kindlier  art,  and  moulded  out  of  better  clay.^ 

But  their  sire's  footsteps,  that  they  ought  to  shun,  lead  on 
all  the  rest ,  and  the  routine*  of  inveterate  depravity,  that 
has  been  long  before  their  eyes,  attracts  them  on. 

Therefore  refrain^  from  all  that  merits  reprobation.  One 
powerful  motive,  at  least,  there  is  to  this — lest  our  children 
copy  our  crimes.  For  we  are  all  of  us  too  quick  at  learn- 
ing to  imitate  base  and  depraved  examples ;  and  you  may 
find  a  Catiline  in  every  people  and  under  every  sky  ;  but 
nowhere  a  Brutus,^  or  Brutus'  uncle  ! 

Let  nothing  shocking  to  eyes  or  ears  approach  those  doors 
that  close  upon  your  child.  Away  !  far,  far  away,''  the  pan- 
der's wenches,  and  the  songs  of  the  parasite^  that  riots  the 

1  Exempla.  From  Cic,  Ep.,  iv.,  3,  "Quod  exemplo  fit,  id  etiamjure 
fieri  putant." 

2  Exempla  domestica. 

"  Tlius  Nature  bids  our  home's  examples  win 
The  passive  mind  to  imitative  sin, 
And  vice,  unquestion'd,  makes  its  easy  way, 
Sanction'd  by  those  our  earliest  thoughts  obey."  Badham. 
^  Luto.    Callim,,  fr.  133,  el  ae  llponrtOevT  £7r\aae  Kai  TrjjiXov  [xf]  erepov 
yeyovaT,    Ovid,  Met.,  1.,  80,  "Sive  recens  tellus  seductaque  nuperab 
alto  sethere  cognati  retinebat  semina  coeli ;  Quam  satus  lapeto  mix- 
tam  fluvialibus  undis  finxitin  efifigiem  moderantum  cuncta  Deorum." 
Cf.  Sat.  vi.,  13,  "  Compositive  luto  nuUos  habuere  parentes." 

*  Orbita,  from  orbis;  "the  track  of  a  wheel."   So  by  the  same  meta- 
phor the  "routine,''  or  course  of  life. 
^  Abstineas.   "  O  cease  from  sin  !  should  other  reasons  fail 

Lest  our  own  frailties  make  our  children  frail." 

Badham. 

6  Brutus  was  the  son  of  Servilia,  the  sister  of  Cato  of  Utica  (cf.  x.. 
319).   So  Sen.,  Ep.  97,  '*  Omne tempus  Clodios,  non  omne  Catones  fert." 

7  Procul  hinc.  The  formula  at  religious  solemnities.  Cf.  ii.,  89.  Ov., 
Met.,  vii.,  255, "  Hinc  procul  ^sonidem,  procul  hinc  jubet  ire  minis- 
tros,  et  monet  arcanis  oculos  removere  profanos." 

8  Parasiti.   Cf.  i.,  139. 


200 


JUVENAL. 


livelong  night !  The  greatest  reverence^  is  due  to  a  child  ! 
If  you  are  contemplating  a  disgraceful  act,  despise  not  your 
child's  tender  years,  but  let  your  infant  son  act  as  a  check 
upon  your  purpose  of  sinning.  For  if,  at  some  future  time, 
he  shall  have  done  any  thing  to  deserve  the  censor' s^  wrath, 
and  show  himself  like  you,  not  in  person  only  and  in  face, 
but  also  the  true  son  of  your  morals,  and  one  who,  by  fol- 
lowing your  footsteps,  adds  deeper  guilt  to  your  crimes — 
then,  forsooth  !  you  will  reprove  and  chastise  him  with 
clamorous  bitterness,  and  then  set  about  altering  your  will. 
Yet  how  dare  you  assume  the  front  severe,^  and  license  of  a 
parent's  speech  ;  you,  who  yourself,  though  old,  do  worse 
than  this ;  and  the  exhausted  cupping-glass"^  is  long  ago 
looking  out  for  your  brainless  head  ? 

If  a  friend  is  coming  to  pay  you  a  visit,  your  whole  house- 
hold is  in  a  bustle.  Sweep  the  floor,  display  the  pillars  in 
all  their  brilliancy,  let  the  dry  spider  come  down  with  all  her 
web  ;  let  one  clean^  the  silver,  another  polish  the  embossed^ 


^  Eeverentia.  "  His  child's  unsullied  purity  demands. 

The  deepest  reverence  at  a  parent's  hands."  Badham. 

2  Censoris.    Henninius'  reading  and  punctuation  is  followed  here. 

"Oh  yet  reflect !    For  should  he  e'er  provoke, 
In  riper  age,  the  Law's  avenging  stroke 
(Since  not  alone  in  person  and  in  face, 
But  morals,  he  will  prove  your  son,  and  trace, 
Nay  pass  your  vicious  footsteps),  you  will  rail. 
And  name  another  heir,  should  threatening  fail !"  Gifford. 

3  Cerebro.  Plin.,  ix.,  37,  "Cerebrum  est  velut  arx  sensuum :  hie 
mentis  est  regimen." 

4  Cucurbita.  Properly  a  kind  of  gourd,  Ko^cKvven;  thence  from  its 
shape,  and  perhaps  too  from  its  use,  applied  to  a  cupping-glass.  These 
were  made  of  horn,  brass,  and  afterward  of  glass.  The  Greeks,  from 
the  same  cause,  called  it  aiKva,  or  KvaQos-  (cf  Schol.  ad  Arist.,  Lys.. 
444).  It  is  called  ventosa  from  the  rarefication  of  the  air  in  the  opera- 
tion, and  was  applied  to  relieve  the  head.  Hence  cucurbitx  caput  is 
used  for  a  fool.  Cf.  Appul.,  Met..  1,  "  Nos  cucurbitae  caput  non  habe- 
mus,  ut  pro  te  moriamur !" 

5  Lavet.  Browne  says,  "  Who  washes  silver  plate  ?"  and  prefers  the 
reading  '*leve."  But  might  not  his  patellx  be  of  silver?"  iii.,  261, 
*'  Domus  interea  secura  patellas  jam  lavat." 

^  Aspera.   Cf.  i.,  76,  "  Argentum  vetus  et  stantem  extra  pocula  ca- 


SATIRE  XIV. 


20 1 


plate — the  master's  voice  thunders  out,  as  he  stands  over 
the  work,  and  brandishes  his  whip. 

You  are  alarmed  then,  wretched  man,  lest  your  entrance- 
hall,  befouled  by  dogs,  should  offend  the  eye  of  your  friend 
who  is  coming,  or  your  corridor  be  spattered  with  mud  ;  and 
yet  one  little  slave  could  clean  all  this  with  half  a  bushel  of 
saw-dust.  And  yet,  will  you  not  bestir  yourself  that  your 
own  son  may  see  your  house  immaculate  and  free  from  foul 
spot  or  crime  ?  It  deserves  our  gratitude  that  you  have  pre- 
sented a  citizen  to  your  country  and  people,  ^  if  you  take  care 
that  he  prove  useful  to  the  state — of  service  to  her  lands  ; 
useful  in  transacting  the  affairs  both  of  war  and  peace.  For 
it  will  be  a  matter  of  the  highest  moment  in  what  pursuits 
and  moral  discipline  you  train  him. 

The  stork  feeds  her  young  on  snakes^  and  lizards  which 
she  has  discovered  in  the  trackless  fields.  They  too,  when 
fledged,  go  in  quest  of  the  same  animals.     The  vulture, 


prum."  v.,  38,  ''Insequales  beryllo  phialas. "  Virg.,  ^n.,  ix.,  26^, 
"Argento  perfecta  atque  aspera  signis  pocula."  Ovid.,  Met.,  v.,  81, 
"  Altis  exstantem  signis  cratera."  xii.,  235,  *'  Signis  exstantibus  asper 
Antiquus  crater."  xiii.,  700,  "  Hactenus  antique  signis  fulgentibus 
sere,  Summus  inaurato  crater  erat  asper  acantho." 

"  '  Sweep  the  dry  cobwebs  down !"  the  master  cries, 
Whips  in  his  hand,  and  fury  in  his  eyes  : 
*  Let  not  a  spot  the  clouded  columns  stain, 
Scour  you  the  figured  silver  ;  you  the  plain !'  "  Gififord. 

1  Patriae  populoque,  an  ancient  formula.  Cf  Liv.,  v.,  41.  So  Horace 
joins  them,  "Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades  in  patriam  Dopulumque 
fluxit,"  iii.,  Od.  vi.,  20  (vid.  Orell.  in  loc).  Ovid,  Met.,  xv.,  572,  "Seu 
Isetum  est,  patriae  Isetum,  populoque  Quirini." 

"Thy  grateful  land  shall  say  'tis  nobly  done. 
If  thou  bring'st  up  to  public  use  thy  son  ; 
Fit  for  the  various  tasks  allotted  men, 
A  warlike  chief,  a  prudent  citizen."  Hodgson. 

2  Serpente.  Pliny  (H.  N.,  x.,  23)  alludes  to  the  same  circumstance 
with  regard  to  storks.  "  Illis  in  Thessalia  tantus  honos  serpentum 
exitio  habitus  est,  ut  ciconiam  occidere  capitale  sit,  eadem  legibus 
poena  qua  in  homicidas." 

"  Her  progeny  the  stork  with  serpents  feeds, 
And  finds  them  lizards  in  the  devious  meads  : 
The  little  storklings,  when  their  wings  are  grown, 
Look  out  for  snakes  and  lizards  of  their  own."  Badham. 

9* 


i02 


JUVENAL. 


quitting  the  cattle,  and  dogs,  and  gibbets,  hastens  to  hei 
callow  brood,  and  bears  to  them  a  portion  of  the  carcass. 
Therefore  this  is  the  food  of  the  vulture  too  when  grown  up, 
and  able  to  feed  itself  and  build  a  nest  in  a  tree  of  its  own. 

Whereas  the  ministers  of  Jove,^  and  birds  of  noble  blood, 
hunt  in  the  forest  for  the  hare^  or  kid.  Hence  is  derived 
the  quarry  for  their  nest :  hence  too,  when  their  progeny, 
now  matured,  have  poised  themselves  on  their  own  wings, 
when  hunger  pinches  they  swoop  to  that  booty,  which  first 
they  tasted  when  they  broke  the  shell. 

Centronius  has  a  passion  for  building  ;  and  now  on  the 
embayed  shore  of  the  Caieta,^  now  on  the  highest  peak  of 
Tibur,'^  or  on  Prseneste's  hills^  he  reared  the  tall  roofs  of  his 
villas,  of  Grecian^  and  far-fetched  marbles  ;  surpassing  the 

1  Famulx  Jovis.  ^sch.,  Prom.  V.,1057,  Atb?  TrTr}vo<;  Kviov,  8a<i>oLvoq 
dero?.  Hor.,  iv.,  Od.  iv.,  1,    Qualem  ministrum  fulminis  alitem,"  etc. 

2  Leporem.  Virg.,  JEn.,  ix.,  563,  seq.,  "  Qualis  ubi  aut  leporem  aut 
candenti  corpore  cycnum  Sustulit  alta  petens  pedibus  Jovis  armiger 
uncis." 

"  While  Jove's  own  eagle,  bird  of  noble  blood,  • 
Scours  the  wide  champaign  for  untainted  food, 
Bears  the  swift  hare,  or  swifter  fawn  away, 
And  feeds  her  nestlings  with  the  generous  prey/'  Gifford. 

3  CaieUe,  now  ''Mola  di  Gseta,"  called  from  ^neas's  nurse.  Virg., 
^n.,  vii.,1,  "  Tu  quoque  littoribus  nostris,  ^Eneia  nutrix  ^ternam 
moriens  famam  Caieta  dedisti.  Et  nunc  servat  honos  sedem  tuus." 

4  Tibur,  now  "Tivoli,"  on  the  Anio,  built  on  a  steep  acclivity. 
Hence  "supinum,"  Hor.  iii.,  Od.  iv.,  23.  Cf.  iii.,  192,  "aut  proni  Ti- 
buris  arce." 

^  Prxneste,  now  "  Palestrina,' '  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Csecu- 
lus,  son  of  Vulcan.    Vid,  Virg.,  ^n.,  vii.,  678. 

6  Grxcis.  Cf  Stat.,  Sylv.,  III.,  i.,  5,  "Sed  nitidos  postes  Graiisque 
efFulta  metallis  culmina."  The  green  marble  of  Taenarus  was  very 
higly  prized.  Vid.  Plin.,  H.  N.  xxxvi.,  7.  Prop.,  III.  ii.,  9,  *' Quod 
non  Tsenariis  domus  est  mihi  fulta  columnis."  Tibull.,  III.,  iii.,  13, 
"  Quidve  domus  prodest  Phrygiis  innixa  columnis,  Tsenare  sive  tuis, 
sive  Caryste  tuis."  Among  other  foreign  marbles,  Pliny  mentions 
the  Egyptian,  Naxian,  Armenian,  Parian,  Chian,  Sicyonian,  Synna- 
die,  Numidian.  Augustus  introduced  the  use  of  marble  in  public 
buildings,  and  many  edifices  of  his  time  were  constructed  of  solid 
marble.  All  the  columns  of  the  temple  of  Mars  Ultor  are  of  marble. 
(Vid.  Niebuhr's  Lectures,  vol.  iii.,  p.  299.  Sat.  xi.,  182,  "LongisNu- 
midarum  fulta  columnis."  Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  xviii.,4,  "  Columnas  ultima 
recisas  Africa."   Lucian,  Hipp.,  p.  507,  ed.  Bened.)   But  the  more 


SATIRE  XIV. 


203 


temple  of  Fortune^  and  of  Hercules  as  much  as  Posides^ 
the  eunuch  outvied  our  Capitol.  While,  therefore,  he  is  thus 
magnificently  lodged,  Centronius  lessened  his  estate  and 
impaired  his  wealth.  And  yet  the  sum  of  the  portion  that 
he  left  was  no  mean  one  :  but  all  this  his  senseless  son  ran 
through  by  raising  new  mansions  of  marble  more  costly  than 
his  sire's. 

Some  whose  lot  it  is  to  have  a  father  that  reveres  sab- 
baths, worship  nothing  save  clouds  and  the  divinity  of 
heaven  ;  and  think  that  flesh  of  swine,  from  which  their  sire 
abstained,  differs  in  naught  from  that  of  man.  Soon,  too, 
they  submit  to  circumcision.  But,  trained  to  look  with 
scorn  upon  the  laws  of  Rome,  they  study  and  observe  and 
reverence  all  those  Jewish  statutes  that  Moses  in  his  mystic 
volume  handed  down  ;  never  to  show  the  road  except  to  one 
that  worships  the  same  sacred  rites — to  conduct  to  the 
spring  they  are  in  quest  of,  the  circumcised^  alone.  But 


general  use  of  it  did  not  begin  till  the  reign  of  Nero,  when  Greek 
architecture  became  prevalent. 

1  Fortunse.  The  temple  of  Fortune  at  Prseneste  was  erected  by  Au- 
gustus. Hence  she  was  called  Dea  Praenestina,  and  the  oracles  deliv- 
ered there  "  Sortes Prsenestinse."  Suet.,  Tib.,  63.  Propert.,  II.,  xxxii., 
3.  Cf  Ov.,  Fast.,  vi.,  62.  (From  Stat.  Sylv.,  I.,  iii.,  80,  "  Quod  ni  tem- 
pla  darent  alias  Tirynthia  sortes,  et  Prsenestinae  poterant  migrare 
Sorores,"  it  appears  that  at  Prseneste,  as  at  Antium,  there  were  two 
Fortunes  worshiped  as  sister-goddesses.  Cf.  Suet.,  Calig.,57.  Mart., 
v.,  Ep.  i.,  3.  Orell.  ad  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  xxxv.,  1.)  The  temple  of  Her- 
cules at  Tibur  was  built  by  Marcius  Phillippus,  step-father  of  Au- 
gustus.   Cf.  Suet.,  Aug.,  29.   Prop.,  II.,  xxxii.,  5. 

2  Posides.  Vid.  Suet.,  Claud.,  28,  "Libertorum  prsecipue  suspexit 
Posiden  spadonem  quem  etiam,  Britannico  triumph o,  inter  militares 
viros  hasta  pura  donavit."  Like  Clandius'  other  freedmen,  he 
amassed  immense  wealth. 

3  Verpos.  Some  of  the  commentators  waste  a  great  amount  of  zeal, 
and  no  little  knowledge,  to  show  us  that  these  lines  prove  Juvenal  to 
have  been  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  Mosaic  law.  I  presume  Juvenal 
means  to  tell  us  what  the  Jews  did,  not  what  the  Jewish  law  taught; 
which  had  they  followed,  they  would  not  have  been  in  Rome  for 
Juvenal  to  write  about.  These  lines,  in  fact,  instead  of  contradict- 
ing Josephus,  confirm  his  account  of  the  state  of  his  countrymen,  and 
are  another  valuable  testimony  to  prove  that  they  ''had  made  the 
word  of  God  of  none  efifect  through  their  traditions."   What  should 


204 


JUVENAL. 


their  father  is  to  blame  for  this  ;  to  whom  each  seventh'  day 
was  a  day  of  sloth,  and  kept  aloof  from  all  share  of  life's 
daily  duties. 

All  other  vices,  however,  young  men  copy  of  their  own 
free  choice.  Avarice  is  the  only  one  that  even  against  their 
will  they  are  constrained  to  put  in  practice.  For  this  vice 
deceives  men  under  the  guise  and  semblance^  of  virtue. 
Since  it  is  grave  in  bearing— austere  in  look  and  dress.  And 
without  doubt,  the  miser  is  praised  ^'a  frugaP  character, 

a  sparing  man,"  and  one  that  knows  how  to  guard  his 
own,*  more  securely  than  if  the  serpent  of  the  Hesperides^  or 
of  Pontus  had  the  keeping  of  them.  Besides,  the  multitude 
considers  the  man  of  whom  we  are  speaking,  a  splendid 
carver^  of  his  own  fortune.  Since  it  is  by  such  artificers  as 
these  that  estates  are  increased.  But  still,  increase  they  do 
by  all  means,  fair  or  foul,  and  swell  in  bulk  from  the  cease- 
less anvil  and  ever-glowing  forge. 

The  father,  therefore,  considers  misers  as  men  of  happy 
minds,'  since  he  admires  wealth,  and  thinks  no  instance  can 
be  found  of  2i  poor  man  that  is  also  happy;  and  therefore  ex- 


we  say  of  Messrs.  Johnson,  Malone,  and  Steevens,  were  they  to 
gravely  demonstrate  that  Shakspeare  wrote  in  ignorance  of  the  tenets 
of  Judaism  when  he  introduces  Shylock  coveting  Signor  Antonio's 
"pound  of  flesh?" 

1  Sepiima.  Cf  Tac,  His.,v.,  4,  "Septimo  die  otium  placuisse  ferunt ; 
quia  is  finem  laborum  tulerit;  dein  blandiente  inertia,  septimum 
quoque  annum  ignaviae  datum." 

2  Specie.  Hor.,  A.  P.,  25,  "Decipimur  specie  recti."  Pers.,  v.,  105, 
*'  Et  veri  speciem  dignoscere  calles." 

"  For  this  grave  vice,  assuming  Virtue's  guise, 
Seems  Virtue's  self  to  superficial  eyes."  Giflford. 

3  Frugi.   Hor.,  i..  Sat.,  iii.,  49,  "Parcius  hie  vivit,  frugi  dicatur." 

4  Tutela.  Hor.,  A.  P.,  169,  "  Vel  quod  Quserit,  et  inventis  miser  ab- 
stinet  ac  timet  uti,"  and  1.  325-333. 

5  Hesperidum.  Vid.  Ov.,  Met.,  iv.,  627,  seq.  Virg.,  ^n.,  iv.,480,  seq. 
Athen.,  iii.,  p.  82,  ed.  Dindorf 

6  Artiflcem.    *'  And  reasoning  from  the  fortune  he  has  made, 

Hail  him  a  perfect  master  of  his  trade."  Gifford. 

7  Animi.  Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  xv.,  45,  "  Vos  sapere  et  solos  aio  bene  vivere 
quorum  Conspicitur  nitidis  fundata  pecunia  villis." 


SATIRE  XIV. 


205 


horts  his  sons  to  follow  the  same  track,  and  apply  themselves 
earnestly  to  the  doctrines  of  the  same  sect.  There  are  certain 
first  elements^  of  all  vices.  These  he  instills  into  them  in 
regular  order,  and  constrains  them  to  become  adepts  in  the 
most  paltry  lucre.  Presently  he  inculcates  an  insatiable  thirst 
for  gain.  While  he  is  famishing  himself,  he  pinches  his  ser- 
vants'^ stomachs  with  the  scantiest  allowance.^  For  he  never 
endures  to  consume  the  whole  of  the  blue  fragments  of  mouldy* 
bread,  but  saves,  even  in  the  middle  of  September,^  the 
mince®  of  yesterday;^  and  puts  by  till  to-morrow's  dinner 
the  summer  bean,^  with  a  piece  of  stockfish  and  half  a  stink- 
ing shad  :^  and,  after  he  has  counted  them,  locks  up  the 
shreds  of  chopped  leek.  '^^    A  beggar  from  the  bridge^^  would 

1  Elemenia.    "  Vice  boasts  its  elements,  like  other  arts  : 

These  he  inculcates  first ;  anon  imparts 
The  petty  tricks  of  saving  :  last  inspires 
Of  endless  wealth  th'  insatiable  desires."  Giflford. 

2  Servorum.  Juvenal  had  evidently  Theophratus'  aiaxpoKcpdrjg  in 
his  eye  :  ra  6e  KaraXuiroixeva  d-rrd  Tr\g  TpaTrk^r}g  yjfAiar)  riop  pa(pavi6cov 
dTroypd(f)£c0ai.  'iva  01  SiaKOvovrcg  -rraiSeg  fif)  Kd^oiai. 

3  Modio  iniquo.  Cf.  Theophr,,  Char.,  30  (tt.  aiaxpoKepS.)  (p£i6o}v(ci> 
litrpu)  rdv  nvvSaKa  eyKCKpovcfievco  fxsrpeiv  avrdg  roTg  €v6ov  tol  e-mrriSsia 

C(p66pa  OLTTOXpiOV. 

^  Mucida.   v.,  68,  "  Solidae  jam  mucida  frusta  farinse." 

6  Septembri.  The  hottest  and  most  unhealthy  month  in  Rome.  Cf. 
vi.,  517.    Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  xvi.,  16. 

6  Minutal.  The  fj.vTToiTO';  and  irepLKoixixa  of  Aristophanes.  Martial 
describes  one,  lib.  xi.,  Ep.  xxxi.   Cf.  Apic,  iv.^  3. 

"  Hesternum.  So  eoivrjv  ewAov.  Athen.,  vii.,  2.  Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  civ., 
7,  "Deque  decem  plures  semper  servantur  olivae,  explicat  et  coenas 
unica  mensa  duas." 

8  Conchem.    iii.,  293,  "  Cujus  conche  tumes." 

^  Lacerti.  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  48,  "Secta  coronabunt  rutatos  ova  lacer- 
tos."  xii.,  Ep.  19.  Celsus,  ii.,  18,  mentions  the  Lacertus  among  the 
fish  "  ex  quibus  salsamenta  fiunt,  et  quorum  cibus  gravissimus  est." 
The  SUurus  was  a  common  and  coarse  Egyptian  fish,  sent  over  salted 
to  Rome.    Cf.  iv.,33. 

10  Porri.  iii.,  294,  "Quis  tecum  sectile  porrum."  Cf.  Plin.,  H.  N., 
xix.,  6. 

11  Ponte.  Cf.  iv.,  116,  "  Csecus  adulator  dirusque  a  ponte  satelles." 
v.,  8,  **  Nulla  crepido  vacat?  nusquam  pons  et  tegetis  pars  dimidia 
brevior  ?"  Mart. ,  x.,  Ep.  v. ,  3,  "  Erret  per  urbem  pontis  exsul  et  clivi, 
interque  raucos  ultimus  rogatores  oret  caninas  panis  improbi  buc- 
cas."   Ovid,  Ibis,  420,  "  Quique  tenent  pontem." 


206  JUv^ENAL. 


decline  an  invitation  to  such  a  meal  as  this  !  But  to  what 
end  is  money  scraped  together  at  the  expense  of  such  self- 
torture  ?  Since  it  is  undoubted  madness,^  palpable  insanity, 
to  live  a  beggar's  life,  simply  that  you  may  die  rich. 

Meanwhile,  though  the  sack  swells,  full  to  the  very  brim, 
the  love  of  money  grows^  as  fast  as  the  money  itself  grows. 
And  he  that  has  the  less,  the  less  ne  covets.  Therefore  you 
are  looking  out  for  a  second  villa,  since  one  estate  is  not 
enough  for  you,  and  it  is  your  fancy  to  extend^  your  terri- 
tories ;  and  your  neighbor's  corn-land  seems  to  you  more 
spacious  and  fertile  than  your  own  ;  therefore  you  treat  for 
the  purchase  of  this  too,  with  all  its  woods  and  its  hill  that 
whitens  with  its  dense  olive-grove.  But  if  their  owner  will 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  part  with  them  at  any  price,  then 
at  night,  your  lean  oxen  and  cattle  with  weary  necks,  half- 
starved,  will  be  turned  into  his  corn-fields  while  still  green, 
and  not  quit  it  for  their  own  homes  before  the  whole  crop"* 
has  found  its  way  into  their  ruthless^  stomachs— so  closely 

1  Phrenesis.  Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  iii.,  82,  "  Danda  est  Hellebori  multo  pars 
maxima  avaris:  Nescio  an  Anticyram  ratio  illis  destinet  omnem." 
So  Cicero,  de  Senec,  65,  "  Avaritia  vero  senilis  quid  sibi  velit,  non 
intelligo :  potest  enim  esse  quidquam  absurdius,  quam  quo  minus 
vise  restat  eo  plus  viatici  queerere?" 

2  Crescit.  So  Ovid,  Fast.,  i.,  211,  *'  Crevemnt  et  opes,  et  opum  furi- 
osa  cupido  et  cum  possideant  plurima  plura  volunt.  Quserere  ut  ab- 
sumant,  absumta  requirere  certant :  atque  ipsse  vitiis  sunt  alimenta 
vices." 

3  Proferre.  Liv.,  i.,  33.  Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  796.  Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  xviii., 
17.  ii..  Sat.  vi.,  8,  **  O  si  angulus  ille  proximus  accedat  qui  nunc  de- 
normat  agellum." 

4  Novalia.  Put  here  for  the  crops  on  any  good  land.  Plin.,  H.  N., 
xviii.,  19,  "  Novale  est  quod  alternisannisseritur."  Cf.  Virg.,  Georg., 
i.,71,  "Alternis  idem  tonsas  cessare  novales  et  segnem  patiere  situ 
durescere  campum,"  with  Martyn's  note.  Varro,  de  L.  L.,  iv.,  4, 
**  Ager  restibilis,  qui  restituitur  ac  reseritur  quotquot  annis ;  Contra 
qui  intermittitur,  a  novando  novalis  est  ager."  It  means  properly 
land  recently  cleared.  "Ager  novus cui  nunc primum  immissum  est 
aratrum  {virgin  soil),  cum  antea  aut  sylva  esset,  aut  terra  nunquam 
proscissa  et  culta  in  segetem."  Face.  Then  it  is  used  for  any  culti- 
vated land.   Virg.,  Eel.,  i.,  71.    Stat.,  Theb.,  iii.,  644,  5. 

^  Saevos.  So  Hor.,ii->  Sat.  vii.,  5,  "  Quae  prima  iratum  ventrem  placa- 
verit  esca." 


SATIRE  XIV. 


2D7 


cropped  that  you  would  fancy  it  had  been  mown.  You  could 
hardly  tell  how  many  have  to  complain  of  similar  treatment, 
and  how  many  estates  wrongs  like  cbis  have  brought  to  the 
hammer.  ' '  But  what  says  the  world  ?  What  the  trumpet 
of  slanderous  fame? — " 

"What  harm  does  this  do  me  ?''^  he  says  ;  "I  had  rather  * 
have  a  lupin's  pod,  than  that  the  whole  village  neighbor- 
hood^ should  praise  me,  if  I  am  at  the  same  time  to  reap  the 
scanty  crops  of  a  diminutive  estate. '  ^ 

You  Tvill  then,  forsooth,  be  free  from  all  disease^  and  all 

infirmity,  and  escape  sorrow  and  care  ;  and  a  lengthened 

span  of  life  will  hereafter  be  your  lot  with  happier  destiny, 

if  you  individually  own  as  much  arable  land  as  the  whole 

Roman  people  used  to  plow  under  king  Tatius.    And  after 

that,  to  men  broken  down  with  years,  that  had  seen  the 

hard  service  of  the  Punic  wars,  and  faced  the  fierce  Pyrrhus 

and  the  Molossian  swords,  scarce  two  acres*  a  man  were  be- 

"  Turn  in  by  night  tiiy  cattle,  starved  and  lean, 
Amid  his  growing  crops  of  waving  green  ; 
Nor  lead  them  forth  till  all  the  field  be  bare, 
As  if  a  thousand  sickles  had  been  there."  Badham. 

1  Quid  nocet  hoc  f  Cf.  i.,  48,  "Quid  enim  salvis  infamia  nummis!" 
Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  i.,  63,  "  Ut  quidam  memoratur  Athenis,  Sordidus  ac  dives 
populi  contemnere  voces  sic  solitus :  Populus  me  sibilat,  at  mihi 
plaudo  Ipse  domi,  simul  ac  nummos  contemplor  in  area." 

2  Vicinia.   Hor.,  ii.,  Sat.  v.,  106,  "  Egregie  factum  laudet  vicinia." 

3  Morbis.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  i.,  80,  "At  si  condoluit  tentatum  frigore 
corpus,  aut  alius  casus  lecto  te  affixit ;  habes  qui  assideat,  fomenta 
paret,  medicum  roget  ut  te  suscitet  ac  reddat  natis  carisque  propin- 
quis." 

"  What !  canst  thou  thus  bid  mortal  sickness  cease  ? 
Thus  from  life's  lightest  cares  compel  release  ? 
Though  twenty  plowshares  turn  thy  vast  domain, 
Shalt  thou  live  longer  unchastised  by  pain?  "  Badham, 

4  Jugera  bina.  Li  v.,  vi.,  16,  "  Satricum  coloniam  deduci  jussit ;  bina 
jugera  et  semisses  agri  assignati."  c,  36,  "  Auderentne  postulare,  ut 
quum  bina  jugera  agri  plebi  dividerentur,  ipsis  plus  quingenta  ju- 
gera habere  liceret?"  The  colonists  sent  to  occupy  the  conquered 
country  received,  as  their  allotment  of  the  land  taken  from  the 
enemy,  two  acres  apiece.  The  jugerum  was  nearly  five  eighths  of  an 
English  acre,  i.e.,  2  roods,  19  perches,  and  a  fraction.  The  semissis  is 
the  same  as  the  actus  quadratus.  Cf.  Varro,  R.R.,i.,  10.  Plin.,  H. 
N.,  xviii.,  2. 


2o8 


JUVENAL. 


stowed  at  length  as  compensation  for  countless  wounds.  Yet 
that  reward  for  all  their  blood  and  toil  never  appeared  to 
any  less  than  their  deserts — or  did  their  country's  faith  ap- 
pear scant  or  thankless.  Such  a  little  glebe  as  this  used  to 
satisfy  the  father  himself  and  all  his  cottage  troop  :  where 
lay  his  pregnant  wife,  and  four  children  played — one  a  little 
slave,  ^  the  other  three  freeborn.  But  for  their  grown-up 
brothers^  when  they  returned  from  the  trench  or  furrow, 
there  was  another  and  more  copious  supper  prepared,  and 
the  big  pots  smoked  with  vegetables.  Such  a  plot  of  ground 
in  our  days  is  not  enough  for  a  garden. 

It  is  from  this  source  commonly  arise  the  motives  to  crime. 
Nor  has  any  vice  of  the  mind  of  man  mingled  more  poisons 
or  oftener  dealt^  the  assassin's  knife,  than  the  fierce  lust  for 
wealth  unlimited.  For  he  that  covets  to  grow  rich,*  would 
also  grow  rich  speedily.  But  what  respect  for  laws,  what 
fear  or  shame  is  ever  found  in  the  breast  of  the  miser  hast- 
ing to  be  rich  ?  ' '  Live  contented  with  these  cottages,  my 
lads,  and  these  hills  of  ours  !  "  So  said,  in  days  of  yore,  the 
Marsian  and  Hernican  and  Vestine  sire — ^'Let  us  earn  our 
bread,  sufl&cient  for  our  tables,  with  the  plow.    Of  this  the 

1  Vernula.  Cf.  x.,  117,  "  Quern  sequitur  custos  angustse  vernula  cap- 
sse."  The  verna  (olKOTpa(j)r)<;)  was  so  called,  "  qui  in  villis  vere  natus, 
quod  tempus  duce  natura  feturae  est."  Fest.  Others  say  that  it  be- 
came a  term  of  reproach  from  having  been  first  given  to  those  who 
were  born  in  the  Ver  Sacrum.  Cf.  Fest.,  s.  v.  Mamertini.  Strabo,  v., 
p.  404.  Liv.,  xxxiv.,  44.  Just.,  xxiv.,  4.  These  home-born  slaves, 
though  more  despised  from  having  been  born  in  a  state  of  servitude, 
were  treated  with  great  fondness  and  indulgence.  Sen.,  Prov.,  i.,  f., 
*'  Cogita  filiorum  nos  modestia  delectari,  vernularum  licentia  :  illos 

^  tristiori  disciplina  contineri ;  horum  ali  audaciam." 

2  Domini.  Cf.  Plant.,  Capt.  Pr.,  18, Licet  non  haeredes  sint,  domini 
sunt." 

3  Grassatur.  iii.,  305,  "  Interdum  et  ferro  subitus  grassator  agit 
rem." 

4  OUo  vult  fieri.  Cf.  Menand.,  ovdu^  e-n-Xovrrjae  rax^ojg  SlKaiog  ajp. 
Prov.,  xxviii.,  20,  "  He  that  maketh  haste  to  be  rich,  shall  not  be  in- 
nocent." 

*'  What  law  restrains,  what  scruples  shall  prevent 
The  desperate  man  on  swift  possessions  bent?  "  Badham. 


SATIRE  XIV. 


209 


rustic  deities'  approve  ;  by  whose  aid  and  intervention,  since 
the  boon  of  the  kindly  corn-blade,  it  is  man's  fortune  to 
loathe  the  oaks  he  fed  upon  before.  Naught  that  is  forbid- 
den will  he  desire  to  do  who  is  not  ashamed  of  wearing  the 
high  country  boots^  in  frosty  weather,  and  keeps  off  the  east 
winds  by  inverted  skins.  The  foreign  purple,  unknown  to  us 
before,  leads  on  to  crime  and  impiety  of  every  kind." 

Such  were  the  precepts  that  these  fine  old  fellows  gave  to 
their  children  !  But  now,  after  the  close  of  autumn,  even  at 
midnight^  the  father  with  loud  voice  rouses  his  drowsy  son  : 
^'Come,  boy,  get  your  tablets  and  write  !  Come,  wake  up  ! 
Draw  indictments  !  get  up  the  rubricated  statutes*  of  our 
fathers — or  else  draw  up  a  petition  for  a  centurion's  post. 
But  be  sure  Lselius  observe  your  hair  untouched  by  a  comb, 
and  your  nostrils  well  covered  with  hair,^  and  your  good 

1  Numina  ruris.  Cf.  Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  7,  **  Liber  et  alma  Ceres  vestro 
si  munere  tellus  Chaoniam  pingui  glandem  mutavit  arista."  So 
Fast.,  i.,  671,  **  Placentur  matres  frugum  Tellusque  Ceresque  Farre 
suo  gravidse,  visceribusque  suis.  Consortes  operum.  per  quas  cor- 
recta  vetustas,  Quernaque  glans  victa  est  utiliore  cibo."  iv.,  399, 
"Postmodo  glans  nata  est  bene  erat  jam  glande  reperta,  duraque 
magnificas  quercus  habebat  opes.  Prima  Ceres  homini  ad  meliora 
alimenta  vocato  mutavit  glandes  utiliore  cibo."  So  Sat.,  vi.,  10,  "  Et 
ssepe  horridior  glandem  ructante  marito."  Sulp.,  16,  "  Non  aliler 
primo  quam  cum  surreximus  sevo,  Glandibus  et  purse  rursus  procum- 
bere  lymphse  " 

2  Perone.  Virg.,  ^n.,  vii.,  609,  Crudus  tegit  altera  pero."  The 
pero  was  a  rustic  boot,  reaching  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  made  of  un- 
tanned  leather.  Cf.  Pers.,  v.,  102,  "  Navem  si  poscat  sibi  peronatus 
arator  Luciferi  rudis." 

**  No  guilty  wish  the  simple  plowman  knows. 
High-booted  tramping  through  his  country  snows  ; 
Clad  in  his  shaggy  cloak  against  the  wind. 
Rough  his  attire  and  undebauch'd  his  mind  : 
The  foreign  purple,  better  still  unknown. 
Makes  all  the  sins  of  all  the  world  our  own."  Hodgson. 

3  Media  de  node.    Cf.  Arist.,  Nub.,  8,  seq. 

*  Rubras.  Cf.  Pers.  v,,  90,  "Excepto  si  quid  Masuri  rubrica  ve- 
tavit."  Ov.,  Trist.,  I.,  i.,  7,  "Nee  titulus  minio  nee  cedro  charta  no- 
tetur."  Mart,,  iii.,  Ep.  ii..  "Et  te  purpura  delicata  velet,  et  cocco 
rubeat  superbus  index."  In  ordinary  books,  the  titles  and  headings 
of  the  chapters  were  written  in  red  letters.  But  in  la^w-books  the 
text  was  in  red  letter,  and  the  commentaries  and  glosses  in  blax^k. 

^  Pilosas.    ii.,  11,  "Hispida  membra  quidem  et  durae  per  brachia 


210 


JUVENAL. 


brawny  shoulders.  Sack  the  Numidian's  hovels,^  and  the 
forts  of  the  Brigantes,^  that  your  sixtieth  year  may  bestow 
on  you  the  eagle  that  will  make  you  rich.  Or,  if  you  shrink 
from  enduring  the  long-protracted  labors  of  the  camp,  and 
the  sound  of  bugles  and  trumpets  makes  your  heart  faint, 
then  buy  something  that  you  may  dispose  of  for  more  than 
half  as  much  again  as  it  cost  you  ;  and  never  let  disgust  at 
any  trade  that  must  be  banished  beyond  the  other  bank  of 
Tiber,  enter  your  head,  nor  think  that  any  difference  can  be 
drawn  between  perfumes  or  leather.  The  smell  of  gain  is 
good^  from  any  thing  whatever  I  Let  this  sentiment  of  the 
poet*  be  forever  on  your  tongue — worthy  of  the  gods,  and 


>^  setae  promittunt  atrocem  animum."  Combs  were  usually  made  of 
boxwood.  Ov.,  Fast.,  vi,,  229,  "Nonmihi  detonsos  crines  depectere 
buxo."  Mart,,  xiv.,  Ep.  xxv.,  2,  "Quid  faciet  nullos  hie  inventura 
capillos.  multifido  buxus  quae  tibi  dente  datur." 

1  Attegias,  a  word  of  Arabic  origin.  The  Magalia  of  Virgil,  ^En.,  i., 
425;  iv.,  259,  and  Mapalia  of  Silius  Italicus,  ii..  437,  seq.,  xvii..  88. 
Virg.,  Georg.,  iii.,  340.  Low  round  hovels,  sometimes  on  wheels  like 
the  huts  of  the  Scythian  nomadae,  called  from  their  shape  "  Cohortes 
rotundae,"  "hen-coops."  Cat.  ap.  Fest.  They  are  described  by  Sal- 
lust  (Bell.  Jug.,  20)  as  "jEdificia  Numidarum'agrestium,  oblonga,  in- 
curvis  lateribus  tecta,  quasi  navium  carinae ; "  and  by  Hieron.  as 
"furnorum  similes."  Probably  when  jfixed  they  were  called  Maga- 
lia; whence  the  name  of  the  ancient  part  of  Carthage,  from  the  Pu- 
nic '  Mager."  When  locomotive,  MsipsilisL.  Livy  says  that  when  Ma- 
sinissa  fled  before  Syphax  to  Mount  Balbus,  "  familise  aliquot  cum 
mapalibus  pecoribusoue  suis  persecuti  sunt  regem." 

2  The  Brigantes  were  the  most  ancient  and  most  powerful  of  the 
British  nations,  extending  from  sea  to  sea  over  the  counties  of  York, 
Durham,  Lancaster.  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland.  Tac,  Agric, 
17.  The  famous  Cartismandua  was  their  queen,  with  whom  Carac- 
tacus  took  refuge.  Tac,  Ann.,  xii.,  32,  6.  Hist.,  iii.,  45.  Hadrian 
was  in  Britain,  a.d.  121,  when  his  Foss  was  constructed. 

^  Lucri  bonus  est  odor.  Alluding  to  Vespasian's  answer  to  Titus. 
Vid.  Suet.,  Vesp.,  23,  "  Reprehendenti  filio  Tito,  quod  etiam  urinae 
vectigal  commentus  esset,  pecuniam  ex  prima  pensione  admovit  ad 
nares,  sciscitans,  num  odore  offfenderetur;  et  illo  negante,  atqui,  in- 
quit  ex  lotio  est."  Martial  alludes  to  the  fact  of  offensive  trades  be- 
ing banished  to  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber.  VI  ,  xciii.,  4,  "  Non  de- 
tracta  cani  Transtiberna  cutis."    I.,  Ep.  xlii.,  3  ;  cix.,  2. 

^  Poetx.  Ennius  is  said  to  have  taken  this  sentiment  from  the 
Bellerophon  of  Euripides.  Horace  has  also  imitated  it;  i.,  Ep.  i.,  65, 
"Rem  facias;  rem  si  possis  recte,  si  non  quocumque  modo  rem.'' 
Cf.  Seneca,  Epist.,  115,  "Non  quare  et  unde;  quid  habeas  tantum 


SATIRE  XIV. 


211 


even  great  Jove  himself  ! — ^No  one  asks  how  you  get  it,  but 
have  it  you  must/  This  maxim  old  crones  impress  on  boys 
before  they  can  run  alone.  This  all  girls  learn  before  their 
ABC.'^ 

Any  parent  whatever  inculcating  such  lessons  as  these  I 
would  thus  address  :  Tell  me,  most  empty-headed  of  men ! 
who  bids  you  be  in  such  a  hurry?  I  engage  your  pupil 
shall  better  your  instruction.  Don't  be  alarmed  !  You  will 
be  outdone  ;  just  as  Ajax  outstripped  Telamon,  and  Achilles 
excelled  Peleus.  ^  Spare  their  tender  years  !^  The  bane  of 
vice  matured  has  not  yet  filled  the  marrow  of  their  bones  ! 
As  soon  as  he  begins  to  trim  a  beard,  and  apply  the  long  ra- 
zor's edge,  he  will  be  a  false  witness — will  sell  his  perjuries 
at  a  trifling  sum,  laying  his  hand^  on  Ceres'  altar  and  foot. 
Look  upon  your  daughter-in-law  as  already  buried,  if  she 
has  entered  your  family  with  a  dowry  that  must  entail  death 
on  her.*    With  what  a  gripe  will  she  be  strangled  in  her 

rogant."  (No  sentiment  of  the  kind  is  to  be  found  in  the  fragments 
of  eitlier.) 

"No!  though  compelled  beyond  the  Tiber's  flood, 
To  move  your  tan-yard,  swear  the  smell  is  good, 
Myrrh,  cassia,  frankincense  ;  and  wisely  think 
That  what  is  lucrative  can  never  stink."  Hodgson. 

1  Peleus.  Thetis  was  given  in  marriage  to  Peleus,  because  it  had 
been  foretold  that  she  should  give  birth  to  a  son  who  should  be  greater 
than  his  father;  and  therefore  Jupiter  was  obliged  to  forego  his  pas- 
sion for  her.  Vid.  yEsch.,  Prom.  Vinct.,  886,  seq.  Pind.,  Isthm.,  viii., 
67.    Nonnus,  Dionys.,  xxxiii.,  356. 

2  Parcendumteneris.  Parodied  from  Virg„Georg.,  ii.,  363,  "Acdum 
prima  novis  adolescit  frondibus  setas,  parcendum  teneris." 

3  Tangens.  In  swearing,  the  Romans  laid  their  hands  on  the  altars 
consecrated  to  the  gods  to  whose  deity  they  appealed.  Vid.  Virg., 
^n.,  pass.  Hor.,ii.,  Ep.  i.,  16.  Cf.  Sat,  xiii.,  89,  "Atque  ideo  intre- 
pide  qusecunque  altaria  tangunt."  Sil.  iii.,  82,  *'Tangat  Elissseas 
palmas  puerilibus  aras."  Liv.,  xxi.,  1,  "  Annibalem  annorum  ferme 
novem,  altaribus  admotum  tactis  sacris  jurejurando  adactum,  se 
quum  primum  posset,  hostem  fore  populo  Romano." 

*  Mortiferd.  Cf.  Pers.,  ii.,  13,  "  Acri  bile  tumet.  Nerio  jam  tertia 
conditur  uxor." 

"  If  Fate  should  help  Kim  to  a  dowried  wife, 
Her  doom  is  fix'd,  and  brief  her  span  of  life : 
Sound  in  her  sleep,  while  murderous  fingers  grasp 
Her  slender  throat,  hark  to  the  victim's  gasp !  "  Badham. 


212 


JUVENAL. 


sleep  !  For  all  that  yoti  suppose  must  be  gotten  by  sea  and 
landj  a  shorter  road^  will  bestow  on  him  !  Atrocious  crime 
involves  no  labor  !  ''I  never  recommended  this,"  you  will 
hereafter  say,  ^'  nor  counseled  such  an  act."  Yet  the  cause 
and  source  of  this  depravity  of  heart  rests  at  your  doors  ;  for 
he  that  inculcated  a  love  for  great  wealth,  and  by  his  sinis- 
ter lessons  trained  up  his  sons  to  avarice,^  does  give  full 
license,  and  gives  the  free  rein^  to  the  chariot's  course  ;  then 
if  you  try  to  check  it,  it  can  not  be  restrained,  but,  laughing 
you  to  scorn,  is  hurried  on,  and  leaves  even  the  goal  far  be- 
hind. No  one  holds  it  enough  to  sin  just  so  much  as  you 
allow  him,  but  men  grant  themselves  a  more  enlarged  in- 
dulgence. 

When  you  say  to  your  son,  ' '  The  man  is  a  fool  that  gives 
any  thing  to  his  friend,*  or  relieves  the  burden^  of  his  neigh- 
bor's poverty,"  you  are,  in  fact,  teaching  him  to  rob  and 
cheat,  and  get  riches  by  any  crime,  of  which  as  great  a  love 
exists  in  you  as  was  that  of  their  country  in  the  breast  of 

1  Brevior  via.  So  Tacitus  (Ann.,  iii.,  66),  speaking  of  Brutidius  (of. 
Sat.  X.,  83),  says,  *'  Festinatio  exstimulabat,  dum  sequales,  dein  superi- 
ores,  postremo  suasmet  ipse  spes  anteire  parat :  quod  multos  etiam 
bonos  pessum  dedit  qui,  stpreiis  quae  tarda  cum  securitate,  prsematura 
vel  cum  exitio  properarent." 

2  The  line  **  Et  qui  per  fraudes  patrimonia  conduplicare  "  is  now 
generally  allowed  to  be  an  interpolation. 

3  Effundit  hahenas.  So  Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  512,  "  Ut  cum  carceribus 
sese  effudere  quadrigae  addunt  in  spatia,  et  frustra  retinacula  tendens 
Fertur  equis  auriga,  neque  audit  currus  habenas."  ^n.,  v.,  818 ;  xii., 
499.  Ov.,  Am.,  III.,  iv..  15.  Cf.  Shaksp.,  King  Henry  V.,  Act  iii.,  sc. 
3,  "  What  rein  can  hold  licentious  wickedness,  when  down  the  hill 
he  holds  his  fierce  career? " 

"  With  base  advice  to  poison  youthful  hearts, 
And  teach  them  sordid,  money-getting  arts, 
Is  to  release  the  horses  from  the  rein, 
And  let  them  whirl  the  chariot  o'er  the  plain: 
Forward  they  gallop  from  the  lessening  goal, 
Deaf  to  the  voice  of  impotent  control,"  Hodgson. 

4  Donet  amico.  Hor.,  i..  Sat.  ii.,  4,  "  Contra  hie,  ne  prodigus  esse  Di- 
catur  metuens,  inopi  dare  nolit  amico." 

5  Level.  Cf.  Isa.,  Iviii.,  6,  "To  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to 
undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye 
break  every  yoke."   Gal.,  vi., 


SATIRE  XIV. 


213 


the  Decii  ;^  as  much,  if  Greece  speaks  truth,  as  Menaeceus^ 
loved  Thebes !  in  whose  furrows^  legions  with  their  buck- 
lers spring  from  the  serpent's  teeth,  and  at  once  engage  in 
horrid  war,  as  though  a  trumpeter  had  arisen  along  with 
them.  Therefore  you  will  see  that  fire*  of  which  you  your- 
self supplied  the  sparks,  raging  far  and  wide,  and  spreading 
universal  destruction.  Nor  will  you  yourself  escape,  poor 
wretch  I  but  with  loud  roar  the  lion-pupil^  in  his  den  will 
mangle  his  trembling  master. 

Your  horoscope  is  well  known  to  the  astrologers.^  Yes  ! 
but  it  is  a  tedious  business  to  wait  for  the  slow -spinning"^ 
distaffs.  You  will  be  cut  off  long  before  your  thread®  is  spun 
out.  You  are  long  ago  standing  in  his  way,  and  are  a  drag 
upon  his  wishes.    Long  since  your  slow  and  stag-like^  age  is 


1  Deciorum.  Cf.  ad  viii.,  254.  Grxcia  vera.  Cf.  x.,  174,  *'  Quidquid 
Grsecia  mendax  audet." 

2  Menxceus.  So  called  because  he  chose  rather  to  "  remain  at 
home,"  and  save  his  country  from  the  Argive  besiegers  by  self-sacri- 
fice, than  to  escape,  as  his  father  urged,  to  Dodona.  See  the  end  of 
the  Phoenissse  of  Euripides,  and  the  story  of  the  pomegranates  that 
grew  on  his  grave,  in  Pausanias,  ix.,  cap.  xxv.,  1.  Cf.  Cic,  T.  Qu.,  i., 
48,  and  the  end  of  the  tenth  book  of  Statins'  Thebais. 

3  Suleis.  Ov.,  Met.,  iii.,  1-130.  Virg.,  Georg.,  ii.,  141,  Satis  immanis 
dentibus  hydri,  nec  galeis  densisque  virum  seges  horruit  hastis." 

4  Ignem.  Pind.,  Pyth.,  iii.,  66,  noXXav  r  opei  nvp  tvog  CTrepfxaros 
kvOopov  aiarr(x)(xev  vXav^ 

&  Leo  alumnus.  There  is  said  to  be  an  allusion  to  a  real  incident 
which  occurred  under  Domitian.  Cf.  Mart.,  Ep.,  de  Spect.,  x.,  *'  Lse- 
serat  ingrato  leo  perfidus  ore  magistrum  ausus  tarn  notas  contemerare 
mantis:  sed  dignas  tanto  persolvit  crimine  poenas ;  et  qui  non  tulerat 
verberatela  tulit."    ^sch.,  Ag.,  717,  34. 

6  Mathematicis.  Suet.,  Calig.,  57  ;  Otho,  4.  Cf.  Sat.  iii,,  43  ;  vi.,  556, 
562.  Among  these  famous  astrologers  the  names  of  Thrasyllus,  Sulla, 
Theogenes,  Scribonius,  and  Seleucus  are  preserved.  The  calculations 
necessary  for  casting  these  nativities  are  called  '*  numeri  Thrasylli," 
"  Chaldaicae  rationes,"  "  numeri  Babylonii."  Hor.,  i.,  Od.  xi.,  2.  Cic, 
de  Div.,  ii.,  47.   Ov.,  Ibis.,  209,  seq. 

7  Grave.  Cf.  Strat.,  Ep.  Ixxii.,  4,  (pev  [xoiprig  te  KaKfjg  Kal  rrarpdi 
dOavdrov. 

8  Stamine.  Cf.  iii.,  27,  "  Dum  superest  Lachesi  quod  torqueat."  x., 
251,  "  De  legibus  ipse  queratur  Fatorum  et  nimio  de  stamine." 

^  Cervina.  Cf.  x.,  247,  "  Exemplum  vitae  fuit  a  cornice  secundae." 
The  crow  is  said  to  live  for  nine  generations  of  men.  The  old  Scho- 


214 


JUVENAL. 


irksome  to  the  youth.  Send  for  Archigenes^  at  once  !  and 
buy  what  Mithridates^  compounded,  if  you  would  pluck 
another  fig,  or  handle  this  year' s  roses.  You  must  possess 
yourself  of  that  drug  which  every  father,  and  every  king, 
should  swallow  before  every  meal. 

I  now  present  to  you  an  especial  gratification,  to  which 
you  can  find  no  match  on  any  stage,  or  on  the  platform  of 
the  sumptuous  praetor.  If  you  only  become  spectator  at 
what  risk  to  life  the  additions  to  fortune  are  procured,  the 
ample  store  in  the  brass-bound^  chest,  the  gold  to  be  de- 
posited in  watchful  Castor's*  temple  ;  since  Mars  the  avenger 
has  lost  helmet  and  all,  and  could  not  even  protect  his  own 
property.   You  may  give  up,  therefore,  the  games  of  Flora,  ^ 


liast  says  the  stag  lives  for  nine  hundred  years.  Vid.  Anthol.  Gr.,  ii.,  9, 

7]  (pdog  dBprjc-aa  cXa^ov  ttXsov  r}  x^P^  \aid  Xfjpag  dpidixeiaOai  Sevrepov 
dplapihr].  In  the  caldron  prepared  by  Medea  to  renovate  ^Eson,  we 
find,  "  vivacisque  jecur  cervi  quibus  insuper  addit  ora  caputque  no- 
vem  cornicis  ssecula  passse."  Auson.,  Idyll.,  xviii.,  3,  "Hos  novies 
superat  vivendo  garrula  cornix,  et  quater  'egreditur  cornicis  ssecula 
cervus." 

1  Archigenem.   vi.,  236  ;  xiii.,  98. 

2  Mithridates.  vi. ,  660,  "  Sed  tamen  et  ferro  si  prsegustarit  Atrides 
Pontica  ter  victi  cautus  medicamina  regis."  x.,  273  "  Kegem  transeo 
Ponti."  Cf.  Plin.,  xxiii.,  24  ;  xxv.,  11.  Mart.,  v.,  Ep.  76,  "Profecit 
poto  Mithridates  ssepe  veneno,  Toxica  ne  possent  sseva  nocere  sibi." 
This  composition  (Synthesis)  is  described  by  Serenus  Sammonicus, 
the  physician,  and  consists  of  ludicrously  simple  ingredients,  xxx., 
578.   Cf.  Plin.,  xxiii.,  8. 

^  jErata.   Cf.  xi.,  26, "  Quantum  ferrata  distet  ab  area  Sacculus." 

4  Vigilem  Castora.  So  called,  Grangaeus  says, "  quod  ante  Castoris 
templum  erant  militum  excubiae."  The  temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  with 
its  columns  of  marble,  was  built  by  Augustus.  Suet.,  Aug,,  29.  To 
which  Ovid  alludes.  Fast.,  v.,  549, "  Fallor  an  arma  sonant  ?  non  falli- 
mur,  arma  sonabant;  Mars  venit,  et  veniens  bellica  signa  dedit. 
Ultor  ad  ipse  sues  coelo  descendit  honores,  Templaque  in  Augusto 
conspicienda  foro." 

5  Florse.  Cf.  vi.,  250.  Ov.,  Fast.,  v.,  183-330.  The  Floralia  were 
first  sanctioned  by  the  government  a.u.c.  514,  in  the  consulship  of 
Centho  and  Tuditanus,  the  year  Livius  began  to  exhibit.  They  were 
celebrated  on  the  last  day  of  April  and  the  first  and  second  of  May. 
The  lowest  courtesans  appeared  on  the  stage  and  performed  obscene 
dances.   Cf.  Lactant.,  i.,  20.   Pers.,  v.,  178. 


SATIRE  XIV.  215 


of  Ceres,  ^  and  of  Cybele,^  such  far  superior  sport  is  the  real 
business  of  life  ! 

Do  bodies  projected  from  the  petaurum,^  or  they  that  come 
down  the  tight-rope,  furnish  better  entertainment  than  you, 
who  take  up  your  constant  abode  in  your  Corycian*  bark,  ^ 
ever  to  be  tossed  up  and  down  by  Corns  and  by  Auster  ?  the 
desperate  merchant  of  vile  and  stinking  wares  !  You,  who 
delight  in  importing  the  rich^  raisin  from  the  shores  of  an- 
cient Crete,  and  wine-flasks^ — Jove's  own  fellow-countrymen ! 
Yet  he  that  plants  his  foot  with  hazardous  tread  by  that 
perilous  barter  earns  his  bread,  and  makes  the  rope  ward  off 

1  Cereris.  The  Ludi  Circenses  in  honor  of  Ceres  (vid.  Tac,  Ann., 
XV.,  53,  74,  Ruperti's  note)  consisted  of  horse-racing,  and  were  cele- 
brated the  day  before  the  ides  of  April.  Ov.,  Fast.,  iv.,  389,seQ.  They 
were  instituted  by  C.  Memmius  when  Curule  vEdile,  and  were  a 
patrician  festival.   Gell.,  ii.,  24. 

2  Cybeles.    Cf.  vi.,  69:  xi.,  191. 

3  Petauro.  The  exact  nature  of  this  feat  of  agility  is  not  determined 
by  the  commentators.  The  word  is  derived  from  avpa  and  TreVo/aat, 
and  therefore  seems  to  imply  some  machine  for  propelling  persons 
through  the  air,  which  a  line  in  Lucilius  seems  to  confirm,  "  Sicuti 
mechanici  cum  alto  exsiluere  petauro."  Fr.  incert.  xli.  SoManilius, 
v.,  434,  "  Corpora  quae  valido  saliunt  excussa  petauro,  alternosque 
cientmotus:  elatus  et  ille  uuncjacet  atque  hujus  casu  suspenditur 
ille,  membraque  per  flammas  orbesque  emissa  flagrantes."  Mart., 
ii.,  Ep.  86,  "Quid  si  per  graciles  vias  petauri  Invitum  jubeas  subire 
Ladam."  XL,  xxi.,  3,  "  Quam  rota  transmisso  toties  intacta  petauro.'' 
Holyday  gives  a  drawing  in  which  it  resembles  an  oscillum  or  swing. 
Facciolati  describes  it  as  "  genus  ludi,  quo  homines  per  aerem  rotarum 
pulsum  jactantur." 

^  Corycus  was  the  northwestern  headland  of  Crete,  with  an  island 
of  the  same  name  lying  off  it.  [There  were  two  other  towns  of  the 
same  name,  in  Lydia  and  Cilicia,  both  infested  with  pirates  ;  the  lat- 
ter gave  its  name  to  the  famous  Corycian  cave.  Find.,  Pyth,,  i. 
^sch.,  P.  v.,  350.] 

5  Municipes.  The  Kp^T6?  ael  i/zeuo-rat  boasted,  says  Callimachus,  that  ' 
Crete  was  not  only  the  birthplace,  but  also  the  burial-place  of  Jove. 
Cf  iv.,  33,  "Jam  princeps  equitum  magna  qui  voce  solebat  vendere 
municipes  pacta  mercedes  siluros."  So  Martial  calls  Cumsean  pot- 
tery-ware, "testa  municeps  Sibyllse,"  xiv.,  Ep.  cxiv.,  and  Tyrian 
cloaks, " Cadmi  municipes  lacernas."  Cf.  Aristoph.,  Ach.,  833,  where 
Dicseopolis  producing  his  coal-basket  says,  6  \dpKoq  617/1x6x17?  66'  eor' 
€ix6q.  Crete  was  famous  for  this  "  passum,"  a  kind  of  rich  raisin  wine, 
which  it  appears  from  Athenaaus  the  Roman  ladies  were  allowed  to 
drink.   Liv.  x.,  p.  440,  e.   Grangseus  calls  it  "  Malvoisie." 

^  -Lagenas.  Cf .  vii . ,  121. 


2l6 


JUVENAL. 


both  cold  and  hunger.  You  run  your  desperate  risk,  for  a 
thousand  talents  and  a  hundred  villas.  Behold  the  harbor  ! 
the  sea  swarming  with  tall  ships  !  more  than  one  half  the 
world  is  now  at  sea.  Wherever  the  hope  of  gain  invites,  a  fleet 
will  come  ;  nor  only  bound  over  the  Carpathian  and  Gsetulian 
seas,  but  leaving  Calpe^  far  behind,  hear  Phoebus  hissing 
in  the  Herculean  main.  A  noble  recompense  indeed  for 
all  this  toil !  that  you  return  home  thence  with  well- 
stretched  purse  ;  and  exulting  in  your  swelled  money-bags,^ 
brag  of  having  seen  Ocean's  monsters,^  and  young  mermen ! 

A  different  madness  distracts  different  minds.  One, 
while  in  his  sister's  arms,  is  terrified  at  the  features  and 
torches  of  the  Eumenides.*  Another,  when  he  lashes  the 
bull,^  believes  it  is  Agamemnon  or  Ulysses  roars.  What 
though  he  spare  his  tunic  or  his  cloak,  that  man  requires  a 
keeper,^  who  loads  his  ship  with  a  cargo  up  to  the  very  bul- 
warks, and  has  but  a  plank^  between  himself  and  the  wave. 


1  Calpe,  now  Gibraltar.  It  is  said  to  have  been  Epicurus'  notion, 
that  the  sun,  when  setting  in  the  ocean,  hissed  like  red-hot  iron 
plunged  in  water.  Cf.  Stat.  Sylv.,  II.,  vii.,  27,  "Felix  heu  nimis  et 
beata  tellus,  quae  pronos  Hyperionis  meatus  summis  oceani  vides  in 
undis  stridoremque  rotse  cadentis  audis." 

2  Aluta.  Cf.  vii.,  192,  "Appositam  nigrse  lunam  subtexit  alutse," 
where  it  is  used  for  the  shoe-leather,  as  Mart.,  xii.,  Ep.  25,  and  ii.,  29. 
Ov.,  A.  A.,  iii.,  271.  It  is  a  leathern  apron  in  Mart.,  vii ,  Ep.  25,  and  a 
leathern  sail  in  Cses.,  B.  Gall.,  III.,  xiii.  Here  it  is  a  leathern  money- 
bag. It  takes  its  name  from  the  alumen  used  in  the  process  of  tan- 
ning. 

3  Oceani  monstra.  So  Tacitus,  Ann.,  iii  24,  "Ut  quis  ex  longinquo 
revenerat,  miracula  narrabant,  vim  turbinum  et  inauditas  volucres, 
monstra  maris,  ambiguas  hominum  et  belluarum  formas ;  visa  sive 
ex  metu  credita." 

4  Eumenidum.  Eurip.,  Orest.,  254,  seq.  ^seh.,  Eumen.  Hor.,  ii., 
Sat.  iii.,  132,  seq. 

6  Bovepercusso.   Soph.,  Aj.   Cf.  ad  vii.,  115  ;  x.,  84. 

«  Curaioris.  The  Laws  of  the  xii.  tables  directed  that  **  Si  furiosus 
essit,  agnatorum  gentiliumque  in  eo  pecuniaque  ejus  potestas  esto." 
Tab.,  v.,  7.  Cf.  Hor.,  i.,  Ep.  i.,  102,  "Nec  medici  credis  nec  curatoris 
egere  a  prsetore  dati."  ii.,  Sat.  iii.,  217,  "  Interdicto  huic  omne  adimat 
jus  praetor." 

7  Tabuld,  Cf.  xii.,  57,  "Dolato  confisus  ligno,  digitas  a  morte  re- 
aaotus  quatuor  aut  septem,  si  sit  latissima  tseda." 


SATIRE  XIV. 


217 


While  the  motive  cause  to  all  this  hardship  and  this  fearful 
risk,  is  silver  cut  up  into  petty  legends  and  minute  por- 
traits. Clouds  and  lightning  oppose  his  voyage.  *'A11 
hands  unmoor  !  exclaims  the  owner  of  the  corn  and  pep- 
per he  has  bought  up.  '*This  lowering  sky,  that  bank  of 
sable  clouds  portends  no  ill  !    It  is  but  summer  lightning  ! 

Unhappy  wretch  !  perchance  that  selfsame  night  he  will  be 
borne  down,  overwhelmed  with  shivering  timbers  and  the 
surge,  and  clutch  his  purse  with  his  left  hand  and  his  teeth. 
And  he,  to  whose  covetous  desires^  but  lately  not  all  the 
gold  sufficed  which  Tagus^  or  Pactolus^  rolls  down  in  its 
tuddy  sand,  must  now  be  content  with  a  few  rags  to  cover  > 
his  nakedness,  and  a  scanty  morsel,  while  as  a  ''poor  ship- 
wrecked mariner he  begs  for  pence,  and  maintains  himself 
by  his  painting  of  the  storm.* 

Yet,  what  is  earned  by  hardships  great  as  these,  involves 

"  Who  loads  his  bark  till  it  can  scarcely  swim, 
And  leaves  thin  planks  betwixt  the  waves  and  him ! 
A  little  legend  and  a  figure  small 

Stamp'd  on  a  scrap  of  gold,  the  cause  of  all !  "  Badham. 

1  Cuju8Votis. 

"  Lo!  where  that  wretched  man  half  naked  stands, 
To  whom  of  rich  Pactolus  all  the  sands 
Were  naught  but  yesterday!  his  nature  fed 
On  painted  storms  that  earned  compassion's  bread."  Badham. 

2  Tagus.  Cf.  iii.,  55,  "  Omnis  arena  Tagi  quodque  in  mare  volvitur 
aurum."  Mart.,  i.,  Ep.  1.,  15  ;  x.,  Ep. xcvi., "  Auriferumque  Tagum  si- 
tiam."  Ov.,  Met,  ii.,  251,  "Quodque  suo  Tagus  amne  vehit  fluit  ig- 
nibus  aurum." 

3  The  Pactolus  flows  into  the  Hermus  a  little  above  Magnesia  ad  Se- 
pylum.  Its  sands  were  said  to  have  been  changed  into  gold  by 
Midas'  bathing  in  its  waters,  hence  called  evxp^o'fx;  by  Sophocles. 
Philoct.,  391.  It  flows  under  the  walls  of  Sardis,  and  is  closely  con- 
nected by  the  poets  with  the  name  and  wealth  of  Croesus.  The  real 
fact  being,  that  the  gold  ore  was  washed  down  from  Mount  Tmolus  ; 
which  Strabo  says  had  ceased  to  be  the  case  in  his  time :  lib.  xiii.,  c 
4.  Cf.  Virg.,  ^n.,  x.,  141,  "Ubi  pinguia  culta  exercentque  vivi  Pac- 
tolusque  irrigat  auro."  Senec,  Phoen.,  604,  "Et  qua  trahens  opu- 
lenta  Pactolus  vada  inundat  auro  rura."  Athen.,  v.  It  is  still  called 
Bagouli. 

4  Ficia  f£mpestate.   Cf.  ad  xii.,  27. 

"  Poor  ahipwreck'd  sailor !  tell  thy  tale  and  show 
The  sign-post  daubing  of  thy  watery  woe."  Hodgson. 

10 


2l8 


JUVENAL. 


still  greater  care  and  fear  to  keep.  Wretched,  indeed,  is  the  . 
guardianship^  of  a  large  fortune. 

Licinus,2  rolling  in  wealth,  bids  his  whole  regiment  of 
slaves  mount  guard  with  leathern  buckets^  all  in  rows ;  in 
dread  alarm  for  his  amber,  and  his  statues,  and  his  Phrygian 
marble,*  and  his  ivory,  and  massive  tortoise-shell. 

The  tub  of  the  naked  Cynic*  does  not  catch  fire  !  If  you 
smash  it,  another  home  will  be  built  by  to-morrow,  or  else 
the  same  will  stand,  if  soldered  with  a  little  lead.  Alexan- 
der felt,  when  he  saw  in  that  tub  its  great  inhabitant,  how 
much  more  really  happy  was  he  who  coveted  nothing,  than 
he  who  aimed  at  gaining  to  himself  the  whole  world ; 
doomed  to  suffer  perils  equivalent  to  the  exploits  he 
achieved. 

Had  we  but  foresight,  thou.  Fortune,  wouldst  have  no 
divinity.^    It  is  ive  that  make  thee  a  goddess  !    Yet  if  any 


1  Custodia. 

"  First  got  with  guile,  and  then  preserved  with  dread."  Spenser. 

2  Licinus.   Cf.  ad  i.,  109,  "  Ego  possideo  plus  Pallante  et  Licinis." 

3  Hamis.  Hama,  "  a  leathern  bucket,"  from  the  atx-rj  of  Plutarch. 
Augustus  instituted  seven  Cohortes  Vi^ilum,  who  paraded  the  city 
at  night  under  the  command  of  their  Prsefectus,  equipped  with 
*'hamae"  and  "dolabrse  "  to  prevent  fires.  Cf.  Plin.,  x.,  Ep.  42,  who, 
giving  Trajan  an  account  of  a  great  fire  at  Nicomedia  in  his  pro- 
vince, says,  "  Nullus  in  publico  sipho,  nulla  hama,  nullum  denique 
instrumentum  ad  incendia  compescenda."  Tac,  Ann.,  xv.,  43, 
"  Jam  aqua  privatorum  licentia  intercepta,  quo  largior,  et  pluribus 
locis  in  publicum  flueret,  custodes,  et  subsidia  reprimendis  ignibus 
in  propatulo  quisque  haberet :  nec  communione  parietum,  sed  pro- 
priis  quaeque  muris  ambirentur."  (Ubi  vid.  Ruperti's  note.)  These 
custodes  were  called  "  Castellarii."   Gruter.   Cf.  Sat.  iii. ,  197,  seq. 

4  Phrygiaque  columnd.    Cf.  ad  lin.  89. 

&  Dolia  nudi  Cynici.  Cf.  ad  xiii.,  122.  The  story  is  told  by  Plutarch, 
Vit.  Alex.  Cf.  Diog.  Laert.,  VI.,  ii.,6.  It  is  said  that  Diogenes  died 
at  Corinth,  the  same  day  Alexander  died  at  Babylon.   Cf.  x,,  171. 

"  The  naked  cynic  mocks  such  anxious  cares,  ^ 
His  earthen  tub  no  conflagration  fears  : 
If  crack'd  or  broken,  he  procures  a  new  ; 
Or,  coarsely  soldering,  m'akes  the  old  one  do."  Giflford. 
Nullum  numen.   Cf.  x,,  365. 
"  Where  prudence  dwells,  there  Fortune  is  unknown, 
By  man  a  goddess  made,  by  man  alone."  Badham. 


SATIRE  XIV. 


219 


one  were  to  consult  me  what  proportion  of  income  is  suf- 
ficient, I  will  tell  you.  Just  as  much  as  thirst  and  hunger^ 
and  cold  require  ;  as  much  as  satisfied  you,  Epicurus,  ^  in 
your  little  garden  !  as  much  as  the  home  of  Socrates  con- 
tained before.  J^ature  never  gives  one  lesson,  and  philoso- 
phy another.  Do  I  seem  to  bind  you  down  to  too  strict  ex- 
amples? Then  throw  in  something  to  suit  our  present 
manners.  Make  up  the  sum^  which  Otho's  law  thinks 
worthy  of  the  Fourteen  Rows. 

If  this  make  you  contract  your  brows,  and  put  out  your 
lip,  then  take  two  knights'  estate,  make  it  the  three  Four- 
hundred  !*  If  I  have  not  yet  filled  your  lap,  but  still  it 
gapes  for  more,  then  neither  Croesus'  wealth  nor  the  realms 
of  Persia  will  ever  satisfy  you.  No  !  nor  even  Narcissus'* 
wealth  !  on  whom  Claudius  Csesar  lavished  all,  and  whose 
behest  he  obeyed,  when  bidden  even  to  kill  his  wife. 

1  Sitis  atque  fames.  Hor.,  i.,  Sat.  i.,  73,  "  Nescis  quo  valeat  nummus 
quern  prsebeat  usum  ?  Panis  ematur,  olus,  vini  Sextarius ;  adde 
Queis  humana  sibi  doleat  natura  negatis." 

2  Epicure.  Cf.  xiii.,  122,  "Non  Epicurum  suspicit  exigui  laetum 
plantaribus  horti.'' 

"  As  much  as  made  wise  Epicurus  blest, 
Who  in  small  gardens  spacious  realms  possess'd  : 
This  is  what  nature's  wants  may  well  suffice  ; 
He  that  would  more  is  covetous,  not  wise."  Dryden. 

3  Summam.  Cf.  iii.,  154,  "De  pulvino  surgat  equestri  Cujus  res  legi 
non  sufficit."  Plin.,  xxxii.,  2,  "Tiberio  imperante  constitutem  ne 
quis  in  equestri  ordine  conseretur,  nisi  cui  ingenuo  ipsi,patri,  avoque 
paterno  sestertia  quadringenta  census  fuisset."  Cf.  i.,  105;  iii.,  159, 
"  Sic  libitum  vano  qui  nos  distinxit  Othoni." 

^  Tertia  Quadringenta.  Suet.,  Aug.,  41,  "  Senatorum  Censum  amplia- 
vit,  ac  pro  Octingentorum  millium  summa,  duodecies  sestertio  taxa- 
vit,  supplevitque  non  habentibus." 

&  Narcissi.  Of  his  wealth  Dio  says  (Ix.,  p.  688),  /ueytoroi/  rcJj^  rdre 
avBp(x)Tr(i3V  eSwrjOn  fxvpidSa  re  yap  n^eiovg  fxvpicjv  elx^*  Narcissus  and 
his  other  freedmen,  Posides,  Felix,  Polybius,  etc.,  exercised  un- 
limited control  over  the  idiotic  Claudius,  but  Pallas  and  Narcissus 
were  his  chief  favorites,  "  Quos  decreto  quoque  senatus,  non  prsemiis 
modo  ingentibus,  sed  et  qusestoriis  prsetoriisque  ornamentis  ornari 
libenter  passus  est :  "  and  so  much  did  they  abuse  his  kindness,  that 
when  he  was  once  complaining  of  the  low  state  of  his  exchequer,  it 
was  said,  "  abundaturum  si  a  duobus  libertis  in  consortium  recipere- 


220 


JUVENAL. 


SATIRE  XV. 


ARGUMENT. 

After  enumerating  with  great  humor  the  animal  and  vegetable  gods 
of  the  Egyptians,  the  author  directs  his  powerful  ridicule  at  their 
sottish  and  ferocious  bigotry ;  of  which  he  gives  an  atrocious  and 
loathsome  example.  The  conclusion  of  the  Satire,  which  is  a  just 
and  beautiful  description  of  the  origin  of  civil  society  (infinitely 
superior  to  any  thing  that  Lucretius  or  Horace  has  delivered  on 
the  subject),  founded  not  on  natural  instinct,  but  on  principles  of 
mutual  benevolence  implanted  by  God  in  the  breast  of  man,  and 
of  man  alone,  does  honor  to  the  genius,  good  sense,  and  enlight- 
ened morality  of  the  author. 

Who  knows  not,  O  Volusius^  of  Bithynia,  the  sort  of 
monsters  Egypt, ^  in  her  infatuation,  worships?  One  part 
venerates  the  crocodile  :^  another  trembles  before  an  Ibis 
gorged  with  serpents.  The  image  of  a  sacred  monkey  glit- 
ters in  gold,  where  the  magic  chords  sound  from  Memnon* 

tur . ' '   Claudius  would  have  certainly  pardoned  Messalina,  had  it  not 
been  for  Narcissus.   "  Nec  enim  Claudius  Messalinam  interfecisset, 
nisi  properasset  index,  delator  adulterii,  et  quodammodo  imperatpr 
csedis  Narcissus."   See  the  whole  account,  Tac,  Ann.,  xi.,  26-38. 
Suet.,  Claud.,  26,  sen.   On  the  accession  of  Nero,  Narcissus  was  com- 
pelled by  Agrippina  to  commit  suicide.    Cf.  ad  x.,  330. 
"  No !  nor  his  heaps,  whom  doting  Claudius  gave 
Power  over  all,  and  made  himself  a  slave  ; 
From  whom  the  dictates  of  command  he  drew, 
And,  urged  to  slay  his  wife,  obedient  slew."  Hodgson. 

1  Volusius  is  unknown.  Some  suppose  him  to  be  the  same  person 
as  the  Bithynicus  to  whom  Plutarch  wrote  a  treatise  on  Friendship. 

2  jEgyptus.  So  Cicero,  "^gyptiorum  morem  quis  ignorat?  Quo- 
rum imbutae  mentes  pravitatis  erroribus,  quamvis  carnificinam  prius 
subierint  quam  ibin  aut  aspidem  aut  felem  aut  canem  aut  crocodi- 
lum  violent ;  quorum  etiam  imprudentes  si  quidquam  fecerint,  poe- 
nam  nullam  recusent."  Tusc.  Qn.,  v.,  27.  Cf.  Athen.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  650, 
Dind. 

3  Orocodilon,   Vid.  Herod.,  ii.,  69.— 75m.   Cic,  de  Nat.  Deor.,  i.,  36. 

4  Memnone.  His  statue  stood  in  the  temple  of  Serapis  at  Thebes. 
Plin.,  xxvi.,  7.  Strabo,  XVii.,  C.  1,  ra  avw  fxeprj  ra  airo  rnS"  KaOeSpaT 
7reiTT0)K£  aeifffiov  yevvrjBkvToS'.  He  says  the  xp6(f)0T  Comes  from  *'  the 
lower  part- remaining  on  the  base."  Cf.  1.  56,  "Vultus  dimidios." 
Sat.  viii.,4,  "  Et  Curios  jam  dimidios."  iii.,219,  "  Mediamque  Miner- 
vam."  Cf.  Clinton,  Fasti  Romani,  in  a.d.  130. 


SATIRE  XV. 


221 


broken  in  half,  and  ancient  Thebes  lies  buried  in  ruins,  with 
her  hundred  gates.  In  one  place  they  venerate  sea-fish,  in 
another  river-fish  ;  there,  whole  towns  worship  a  dog  ;^  no 
one  Diana.  It  is  an  impious  act  to  violate  or  break  with  the 
teeth  a  leek  or  an  onion.  2  O  holy  nations  !  whose  gods  grow 
for  them  in  their  gardens  !^  Every  table  abstains  from  ani- 
mals that  have  wool :  it  is  a  crime  there  to  kill  a  kid.  But 
human  flesh  is  lawful  food. 

Were  Ulysses^  to  relate  at  supper  such  a  deed  as  this  to 
the  amazed  Alcinous,  he  would  perhaps  have  excited  the 
ridicule  or  anger  of  some,  as  a  lying  babbler. ^  *'Does  no 
one  hurl  this  fellow  into  the  sea,  that  deserves  indeed  a 
savage  Charybdis  and  a  real  one^  too,  for  inventing^  his  huge 
Lsestrygones^  and  Cyclops.  For  I  would  far  more  readily 
believe  in  Scylla,  or  the  Cyanean  rocks  that  clash  together,^ 


^  Canem.  Cf.  Lucan,viii.,  832,  "Semideosque  canes."  The  allusion 
is  to  the  worship  of  Anubis,  cf.  vi.,  533, 

2  Porrum.  "  And  it  is  dangerous  here  to  violate  an  onion,  or  to  stain 

The  sanctity  of  leeks  with  teeth  profane."  Giflford. 

3  Hortis.   "  Ye  pious  nations,  in  whose  gardens  rise 

A  constant  crop  of  earth-sprung  deities !"  Badham. 

4  Ulyxes.   Vid.  Horn.,  Odyss.,  ix.,  106.  seq. ;  x.,  80,  seq. 

5  Aretalogus.  "Parasitus,  et  circulator  philosophus."  A  discourser 
on  virtue  who  frequented  feasts ;  hence,  one  who  tells  pleasing  tales, 
a  romancer.  The  philosopher  at  last  degenerated  into  the  buffoon. 
Cicero  uses  "  Ethologus  "  in  nearly  the  same  sense,  cf.  de  Orat.,  ii., 
59,  cum  not.  Harles.  Suet.,  Aug..  74,  "  Acroamata  et  histriones,  aut 
etiam  triviales  ex  Circo  ludios,  interponebat,  ac  frequentius  aretalo- 
gos."  Salmas.,  ad  Flav.  Vopisc,  42.  Lucian,  de  Ver.  Hist.,  i.,  709,  B. 
Shaksp.,  Othello,  A?t  i.,  sc.  3. 

6  Vera.   Cf.  viii.,  188,  "  Judice  me  dignus  verd  cruce." 
•  Fingentem,  i.e.,  "  that  they  fed  on  human  victims." 

8  Lxstrygones.  Their  fabulous  seat  was  Formise,  now  "  Mola," 
whither  they  were  led  from  Sicily  by  Lamus,  their  leader.  Hor.,  iii., 
Od.  xvii.,  1 ;  xvi.,  34.    Hom.,  Odyss.,  x.,  81. 

9  Concurrentia  saxa.  These  rocks  were  at  the  northern  entrance  of 
the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  now  the  Channel  of  Constantinople ;  and 
were  fabled  to  have  floated  and  crushed  all  vessels  that  passed  the 
straits,  till  Minerva  guided  the  ship  Argo  through  in  safety  and  fixed 
them  forever.  They  were  hence  called  avixTr^rjydSeT,  awSpoixdSeT^ 
irXayKral,  and  Kvdveai,  from  the  deep  blue  of  the  surrounding  water. 
Homer  places  them  near  Sicily.  Odyss.,  xii.,  61 ;  xxiii.,  327.  Find., 

10* 


222 


JUVENAL. 


and  the  skins  filled  with  stormy  winds  ;  or  that  Elpenor, 
struck  with  the  light  touch  of  Circe's  wand,  grunted  in 
company  with  his  messmates  turned  to  hogs.  Does  he  sup- 
pose the  heads  of  the  Phseacians  so  void^  of  brains?'' 

So  might  any  one  with  reason  have  argued,  who  was  not 
yet  drunk,  ^  and  had  taken  but  a  scanty  draught^  of  the 
potent  wine  from  the  Corcyrsean*  bowl  ;  for  the  Ithacan^  told 
his  adventures  alone,  with  none  to  attest  his  veracity.  We 
are  about  to  relate  events,  wondrous  indeed,  but  achieved 
only  lately,  while  Junius^  was  consul,  above  the  walls  of 
sultry  Coptos.  We  shall  recount  the  crime  of  a  whole  people, 
deeds  more  atrocious  than  any  tragedy  could  furnish.  For 
from  the  days  of  Pyrrha,^  though  you  turn  over  every  tragic 


Pyth.,  iv.,  370.  Cf.  Herod.,  iv.,  85.  Eur.,  Med.,  2  ;  Androm.,  794, 
Theoc,  Idyll.,  xiii.,  22.  Ov.,  Her.,  xii.,  121.  "  Compressos  utinam 
Symplegades  elisissent,"  Trist.,  I.,  x.,  34.  They  are  now  called  **  Pa- 
vorane." 

1  Vacui,  Cf.  xiv.,  57,  "Vacuumquecerebrojampridem  caput."  Cf. 
Virg.,  ^n.,  i.,  567,  "  Non  obtusa  adeo  gestamus  pectora  Poeni." 

"  But  men  to  eat  men  human  faith  surpasses, 
This  traveler  takes  us  islanders  for  asses.''  Dryden. 

2  Nondum  ebrius. 

"  So  might  some  sober  hearer  well  have  said, 
Ere  Corcyrsean  stingo  turned  his  head,"  Hodgson. 

3  Temetum,  an  old  word  of  doubtful  etymology  :  from  it  is  derived 
"  temulentus  "  and  *'  abstemius  "  (cf.  Hor.,  ii.,  Ep.  163),  and  the  phrase 

Temeii  timer"  for  a  parasite. 

*  Corcyrmd.  The  Phseacians  were  luxurious  fellows,  as  Horace  im- 
plies :  "  Pinguis  ut  inde  domum  possim  Phseaxque  reverti."  i.,  Ep., 
XV.,  24. 

5  Ithacus.    So  X.,  257;  xiv.,  287. 

6  Junio.  Salmasius  supposes  this  Junius  to  be  Q.  Junius  Rusticus, 
or  Rusticius,  consul  with  Hadrian,  A.u.c.  872,  a.d.  119.  (Plin.,Exerc., 
p.  320.)  Others  refer  it  to  an  Appius  Junius  Sabinus,  consul  with 
Domitian,  a.u.c.  835,  a.d.  82.  But  the  name  of  Domitian's  colleague 
was  Titits  Flavins;  and  no  person  of  the  name  of  Junius  appears  in 
the  lists  of  consuls  till  Rusticus.  Some  read  Junco,  or  Vinco,  to  avoid 
the  synizesis  ;  but  neither  of  these  names  occur.    See  Life. 

7  Coptiy  now  Kypt  or  Koft,  about  twelve  miles  from  Tentyra,  thirty 
from  Thebes,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  from  Syene,  where  Juve- 
nal was  stationed.  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  connected  it  by  a  road 
with  Berenice. 

8  Pyrrha.   Cf.  i.,  84. 


SATIRE  XV. 


223 


theme,  ^  in  none  is  a  whole  people^  made  the  perpetrators  of 
the  guih.  Here,  then,  an  instance  which  even  in  our  own 
days  ruthless  barbarism^  produced.  There  is  an  inveterate 
and  long-standing  grudge,*  a  deathless  hatred  and  a  rank- 
ling wound  that  knows  no  cure,  burning  fiercely  still  between 
Ombos^  and  Tentyra,  two  neighboring  peoples.  On  both, 
sides  the  principal  rancor  arises  from  the  fact  that  each 
place  hates  its  neighbor's  gods,^  and  believes  those  only 
ought  to  be  held  as  deities  which  itself  worships.  But  at  a 
festive  period  of  one  of  those  peoples,  the  chiefs  and  leaders 


1  Syrmata.  Properly  the  "  long  sweeping  train  of  tragedy."  Vid. 
Hor.,  A.  P.,  278,  "  Personae  pallseque  repertor  honestse."  Sat.,  viii., 
229,  "  Longum  tu  pone  Thyestse  Syrma  vel  Antigones  vel  personam 
Menalippes."  So  Milton,  II  Pens.,  "Sometimes  let  gorgeous  tragedy 
in  sceptred  pall  come  sweeping  by."  Cf.  Mart.,  xii.,  £p.  xcv.,  3,  4  ; 
iv.,  Ep.  xlix.,  8. 

2  Populus.  i.e.,  "Tragedy  only  relates  the  atrocious  crimes  of  in- 
dividuals .•  from  the  days  of  the  Deluge,  you  can  find  no  instance  of 
wickedness  extending  to  a  whole  nation.'' 

^  Feritas.  Aristotle  enumerates  as  one  of  the  characteristics  of 
Brjpidrrigj  to  :\;atp£ti/  Kpkaaiv  avQpdjiriov. 

^  Simultas  is  properly  "  the  jealousy  or  rivalry  of  two  persons  can- 
didates for  the  same  office,"  from  simulo,  synom.  with  semulari ;  or 
from  simul.    Vid.  Doederlein,  iii.,  72. 

5  Ombos,  now  "  Koum-Ombou,"  lies  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile, 
not  far  from  Syene,  and  consequently  a  hundred  miles  at  least  from 
Tentyra.  To  avoid  the  difficulty,  therefore,  in  the  word  "  finitimos," 
Salmasius  would  read  "  Coptos,"  this  place  being  only  twelve  miles 
distant ;  but  all  the  best  editions  have  Ombos.  Tentyra,  now  "  Den- 
derah,"  lies  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  is  well  known  from  the 
famous  discoveries  in  its  Temple  by  Napoleon's  savans.  The  Tenty- 
rites,  as  Strabo  tells  us  (xvii.,  p.  460;  cf.  Plin.,  H.  N.,  viii.,  25),  differed 
from  the  rest  of  their  countrymen  in  their  hatred  and  persecution  of 
the  crocodile,  Ttavra  rporrov  avtxvevovai  Kal  SiacpOeipovaiv  avrov^^ 
being  the  only  Egyptians  who  dared  attack  or  face  them ;  and  hence 
when  some  crocodiles  were  conveyed  to  Rome  for  exhibition,  some 
Tentyrite  keepers  accompanied  them,  and  displayed  some  curious 
feats  of  courage  and  dexterity.  Aphrodite  was  their  patron  deity. 
The  men  of  Coptos,  Ombos,  and  Arsinoe,  on  the  other  hand,  paid  the 
crocodile  the  highest  reverence;  considering  it  an  honor  to  have 
their  children  devoured  by  them  ;  and  crucified  kites  out  of  spite  to 
the  Tentyrites,  who  adored  them.  These  religious  differences  are 
said  by  Diodorus  (ii.,  4)  to  have  been  fostered  by  the  policy  of  the 
ancient  kings,  to  prevent  the  conspiracies  which  might  have  resulted 
from  the  cordial  union  and  coalition  of  the  various  nomes. 

^  AUerius  populi,  i.e.,  the  Tentyrites.  Cf.  1.  73,  seg. 


224 


JUVENAL. 


of  their  enemies  determined  that  the  opportunity  must  be 
seized,  to  prevent  their  enjoying  their  day  of  mirth  and 
cheerfulness,  and  the  delights  of  a  grand  dinner,  when  their 
tables  were  spread  near  the  temples  and  cross  ways,  and  the 
couch  that  knows  not  sleep,  since  occasionally  even  the  sev- 
enth day's  sun  finds  it  still  there,  spread  without  intermis- 
sion of  either  night  or  day.i  Savage, ^  in  truth,  is  Egypt! 
But  in  luxury,  so  far  as  I  myself  remarked,  even  the  bar- 
barous mob  does  not  fall  short  of  the  infamous  Canopus.^ 

Besides,  victory  is  easily  gained  over  men  reeking*  with 
wine,  stammering^  and  reeling.  On  one  side  there  was  a 
crew  of  fellows  dancing  to  a  black  piper  ;  perfumes,  such  as 
they  were  ;  and  flowers,  and  garlands  in  plenty  round  their 
brows.    On  the  other  side  was  ranged  fasting  hate.  But 

1  Pervigili.  Cf.  viii.,  158,  "  Sed  quum  pervigiles  placet  instaurare 
popinas." 

"  The  board,  where  oft  their  wakeful  revels  last 
Till  seven  returning  days  and  nights  are  past."  Hodgson. 

2  Horrida.  So  viii.,  116,  "  Horrida  vitanda  est  Hispania."  ix.,  12, 
*'Horrida  siccse  sylva  comae."  vi.,  10,  "  Et  saepe  horridior  glandem 
ructante  marito." 

"  For  savage  as  the  country  is,  it  vies 
In  luxury,  if  I  may  trust  my  eyes, 
With  dissolute  Canopus."  Gifford. 

3  Canopus.  Cf.  i.,  26.  Said  to  have  been  built  by  Menelaus,  and 
named  after  his  pilot.  It  lies  on  the  Bay  of  Aboukir,  not  far  from 
Alexandria,  and  was  notorious  for  its  luxury  and  debauchery,  car- 
ried on  principally  in  the  temple  of  Serapis.  Cf,  vi.,  84,  "  Prodi^ia  et 
mores  Urbis  damnaute  Canopo."  Sen.,  Epist.  51.  Propert.,  iii.,  El. 
xi.,  39.  These  lines  prove  that  Juvenal  was,  at  some  time  of  his  life,  in 
Egypt;  but  whether  he  traveled  thither  in  early  life  to  gratify  his 
curiosity,  or,  as  the  common  story  goes,  was  banished  there  in  his  old 
age  to  appease  the  wrath  of  Paris,  is  doubtful.  The  latter  story  is  in- 
consistent with  chronology,  history,  and  probability. 

4  Madidis.  So  vi.,  207, "  Atque  coronatum  et  petulans  madidumque 
Tarentum."  ^e/Speyixepog  virofxeBvcou.  Hesych.,  Sil.,  xii.,  18,  "  Molli 
luxu  madefacta  meroque  Illecebris  somni  torpentia  membra  flue- 
bant."  Cf.  Plant.,  True,  IV.,  iv.,  2,  "  Si  alia  membra  vino  madeant." 
Most.,  I.,  iv.,  7,  ''Ecquid  tibi  videor  madere?"  TibuU.,  II.,  i.,29, 
**Non  festa  luce  madere  est  rubor,  errantes  et  male  ferre  pedes:" 
and  II.,  ii.,  8. 

5  Blaesis.  Cf.  Mart.,  x..  Ep.  65.  So  Virgil  (Georg.,  ii.,94)  speaks  of 
the  vine  as  "  Tentatura  pedes  olim  vincturaque  linguam."  Propert., 
II.,  xxxiv.,  22.   Sen.,  Epist.,  83. 


SATIRE  XV. 


225 


with  minds  inflamed,  they  begin  first  of  all  to  give  vent  to 
railings^  in  words. 

This  was  the  signal-blast^  of  the  fray.  Then  with  shouts 
from  both  sides,  the  conflict  begins  ;  and  in  lieu  of  weap- 
ons,^ the  unarmed  hand  rages. 

Few  cheeks  were  without  a  wound.  Scarcely  one,  if  any,  ' 
had  a  whole  nose  out  of  the  whole  line  of  combatants.  Now 
you  might  see,  through  all  the  hosts  engaged,  mutilated 
faces,  *  features  not  to  be  recognized,  bones  showing  ghastly 
beneath  the  lacerated  cheek,  fists  dripping  with  blood  from 
their  enemies^  eyes.  But  still  the  combatants  themselves 
consider  they  are  only  in  sport,  and  engaged  in  a  childish^ 
encounter,  because  they  do  not  trample  any  corpses  under 
foot.  What,  forsooth,  is  the  object  df  so  many  thousands 
mixing  in  the  fray,  if  no  life  is  to  be  sacrificed  ?  The  at- 
tack, therefore,  is  more  vigorous  ;  and  now  with  arms  in- 
clined along  the  ground  they  begin  to  hurl  stones^  they 
have  picked  up — Sedition's"'  own  peculiar  weapons. 


^  Jurgia.  So  v.,  26,  "Jurgia  proludunt."  iii.,  288,  "Miserae  cog- 
nosce prooemia  rixse."  Tac,  Hist.,  i.,  64,  "Jurgia  primum  :  mox  rixa 
inter  Batavos  et  legionarios." 

2  Tuba.  Cf.  i..  169,  and  Virg.,  .^:n.,  xi.,  424,  The  whole  of  the  fol- 
lowing passage  may  be  compared  with  Virg.,  ^n.,  vii.,  505-527. 

3  Vice  tell.   Ov.,  Met.,  xii.,  381, "  Ssevique  vicem  prsestantia  teli.'' 

*  VuUus  dimidios,   viii.,  4,  "  Curios  jam  dimidios,  humeroque  mino- 
rem  Corvinum  et  Galbam  auriculis  nasoque  carentem." 
"  Then  might  you  see,  amid  the  desperate  fray, 
Features  disfigured,  noses  torn  away  ; 
^         Hands,  where  the  gore  of  mangled  eyes  yet  reeks, 

And  jaw-bones  starting  through  the  cloven  cheeks."  Giflford. 

6  Pueriles.   Virg.,  Mn.,  v.,  584-602. 

But  hitherto  both  parties  think  the  fray 
But  mockery  of  war,  mere  children's  play ! 
And  scandal  think  it  t'  have  none  slain  outright, 
Between  two  hosts  that  for  religion  fight."  Dryden. 
.  ^  Saxa.    "Stones,  the  base  rabble's  home-artillery."  Hodgson. 

7  Seditioni.  Henninius'  correction  for  seditione.  For  "domestica" 
in  this  sense,  cf.  Sat.  ix.,  17.  So  Virg.,  ^n..  i.,  150, "  Jamque  faces  et 
saxa  volant,  furor  arma  ministrat."  vii.,  507, "  Quod  cuique  repertum 
rimanti  telum  ira  facit." 

10* 


226 


JUVENAL. 


Yet  not  such  stones  as  Ajax^  or  as  Turnus^  hurled ;  nor 
of  the  weight  of  that  with  which  Tydides^  hit  JEneas^ 
thigh  ;  but  such  as  right  hands  far  different  to  theirs,  and 
produced  in  our  age,  have  power  to  project.  For  even  in 
Homer's*  lifetime  men  were  beginning  to  degenerate.  Earth 
now  gives  birth  to  weak  and  puny  mortals.^  Therefore 
every  god  that  looks  down  on  them  sneers  and  hates  them  ! 

After  this  digression^  let  us  resume  our  story.  When  they 
had  been  re-inforced  by  subsidies,  one  of  the  parties  is  em- 
boldened to  draw  the  sword,  and  renew  the  battle  with  deadly- 
aiming''  arrows.   Then  they  who  inhabit  Tentyra,^  bordering 

^  Ajax.  Horn.,  II.,  vii.,  268,  hvrepog  avr^  Ataj  ttoXv  nei<^ova  'Xdav 
aeipag  r}K^  e-rrtSivfiaag  STrepeiae  Se  iv  (nriXeBpov. 

2  Turnus.  Virg.,  Mn.,  xi.,  896,  "  Saxum  circumspicit  ingens :  saxum 
antiquum  ingens,  campo  quod  forte  jacebat  Limes  agro  positus, 
litem  ut  discerneret  arvis.  Vix  illud  lecti  bis  sex  cervice  subirent, 
Qualia  nunc  hominUm  producit  corpora  tellus."  Cf.  Hom.,  II.,  xxi., 
405. 

3  Tydides.  II.,  v..  302,  6  ^«  X£p/-ta(5to»/  Xa/Se  x^ipt  ^v6ei6ns  pLtya  spyov 
S  ov  6vo  y'  avSps  (pkpotev  oToi  vvv  ^poroi  Eia^  b  6i  [iiv  pea  ndWe  Kai  oTog. 

4  Homero.  II.,  i.,  271,  Keivoiai  6^  av  ovTig  tcov  o'l  vvv  ^poroi  eiaiv 
i-rnxOovtoi  pLax^oiTO. 

5  Malos  homines.  Cf.  Herod.,  i.,  68.  Plin.,  vii.,  16.  Lucretius,  ii., 
1149,  "Jamque  adeo  fracta  est  setas,  effoetaque  tellus  Vix  animalia 
parva  creat,  quae  cuncta  creavit  ssecla."  Sen.,  de  Ben.,  I.,  c.  x.,  "  Hoc 
majores  nostri  questi  sunt,  hoc  nos  querimur,  hoc  posteri  nostri  que- 
rentur,  eversos  esse  mores,  regnare  nequitiam,  in  deterius  res  hu- 
manas  labi."  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  vi..  46,  "^tas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tu- 
lit  nos  nequiores,  mox  daturos  Progeniem  vitiosiorem." 

6  Diverticulo.  Properly  a  "cross-road,"  then  "a  place  to  which  we 
turn  aside  from  the  high  road;  halting  or  refreshing  place."  Cf. 
Liv.,  ix.,  17. 

7  Infestis.  So  Virg.,  ^n.,  v.,  582,  Convert^re  vias,  infesta  que  tela 
tulere."  691,  **  Vel  tu  quod  superest  infesto  fulmine  morti,  Si  mereor 
dimitte."  x.,  877,  ^' Infestd  subit  obvius  hasta;"  Liv.,  ii.,  19,  "Tar- 
quinius  Superbus  quanquam  jam  setate  et  viribus  gravior,  equum  in- 
festus  admisit." 

8  Tentyra.  Cf,  ad  1.  35.  Salmasius  proposes  to  read  here  Pampse" 
(the  name  of  a  small  town)  for  Palmse,  on  account  of  the  difficulty 
stated  above ;  and  supposes  this  to  be  Juvenal's  way  of  distinguish- 
ing Tentyra ;  but  Pampa  is  a  much  smaller  place  than  Tentyra ;  and 
no  one  would  describe  London,  as  Browne  observes,  as  "London 
near  Chelsea."  He  imagines  also  that  Juvenal  is  describing  an 
affray  that  took  place  between  the  people  of  Cynopolis  and  Oxyryn- 
chis  about  this  time,  mentioned  by  Plutarch  (de  Isid.  et  Osirid.),  and 


SATIRE  XV. 


227 


on  the  shady  palms,  press  upon  their  foes,  who  all  in  rapid 
flight  leave  their  backs  exposed.  Here  one  of  them,  in  excess 
of  terror  urging  his  headlong  course,  falls^  and  is  caught. 
Forthwith  the  victorious  crowd  having  cut  him  up  into 
numberless  bits  and  fragments,  in  order  that  one  dead  man 
might  furnish  a  morsel  for  many,  eat  him  completely  up, 
having  gnawed  his  very  bones.  They  neither  cooked  him 
in  a  seething  caldron,  nor  on  a  spit.  So  wearisome^  and 
tedious  did  they  think  it  to  wait  for  a  fire,  that  they  were 
even  content  with  the  carcass  raw.  Yet  at  this  we  should 
rejoice,  that  they  profaned  not  the  deity  of  fire  which  Pro- 
metheus^ stole  from  highest  heaven  and  gave  to  earth.  I 
congratulate*  the  element !  and  you  too,  I  ween,  are  glad.^ 
But  he  that  could  bear  to  chew  a  human  corpse,  never  tasted 
a  sweeter^  morsel  than  this  flesh.  For  in  a  deed  of  such 
horrid  atrocity,  pause  not  to  inquire  or  doubt  whether  it 
was  the  first  maw  alone  that  felt  the  horrid  delight !  Nay  ! 
he  that  came  up  last,'  when  the  whole  body  was  now  de- 

that  he  has  changed  the  names  for  the  sake  of  the  metre.  Heinrich 
leaves  the  difficulty  unsolved.  Browne  supposes  two  places  of  the 
name  of  Tentyra. 

1  Ldbitur.  Gifford  compares  Hesiod.,  Here.  Scut.,  251,  ^npiv  Ixov 
TTcpi  TrmrdvTOiv'  irdn-ai  6  ap  "ievto  aipa  pi\av  Trieeiv*  Sv  Se  npcSrov  pCfxd- 
Touv  KEipLEvov  t]  TrLTTTOvra  vEOVTUTOv,  oLpQl  pEV  avTO)  /SaXX'  dvvxag  pEydovs. 

2  Longum.   "  'T  had  been  lost  time  to  dress  him  ;  keen  desire 

Supplies  the  want  of  kettle,  spit,  and  fire."  Dryden. 

3  Prometheus.  Vid.  Hesiod.,  Op.  et  T>\.,4Q,seq.  Theog.,  564.  .^sch., 
P.  Vinct.,  109.  Hor.,  1.,  Od.  iii.,  27.  Cic,  Tuse.  Qu.,  II.,  x.,  23.  Mart., 
xiv.,  Ep.  80. 

4  Gratulor.  So  Ov. ,  Met.,  x.,  306, "  Gentibus  Ismariis  et  nostro  gratu- 
lor  orbi,  gratulor  huic  terrse,  quod  abest  regionibus  illis,  Quae  tantum 
genuere  nefas." 

5  Te  exsultare.  Juvenal's  friend  Volusius  is  supposed  to  have  had  a 
leaning  toward  the  doctrine  of  the  fire-worshipers.  At  least  this  is 
the  puerile  way  in  which  most  of  the  commentators  endeavor  to 
escape  the  difficulty. 

®  Libentius.   "  But  he  who  tasted  first  the  human  food, 

Swore  never  flesh  was  so  divinely  good,"  Hodgson. 
7  Ultimus.   "  And  the  last  comer,  of  his  dues  bereft, 

Sucks  from  the  bloodstain'd  soil  some  flavor  left." 

Badham, 


228 


JUVENAL. 


voured,  by  drawing  his  fingers  along  the  ground,  got  a  taste 
of  the  blood  ! 

The  Vascones,^  as  report  says,  protracted  their  lives  by 
the  use  of  such  nutriment  as  this.  But  the  case  is  very 
different.  There  we  have  the  bitter  hate  of  fortune  !  the  last 
extremity  of  war,  the  very  climax  of  despair,  the  awful 
destitution^  of  a  long-protracted  siege.  For  the  instance  of 
such  food  of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  ought  to  call  forth 
our  pity.^  Since  it  was  only  after  they  had  exhausted  herbs 
of  all  kinds,*  and  every  animal  to  which  the  gnawings  of  an 
empty  stomach  drove  them,  and  while  their  enemies  them- 
selves commiserated  their  pale  and  emaciated  features  and 
wasted  limbs,  they  in  their  ravenous  famine  tore  in  pieces 
others'  limbs,  ready  to  devour  even  their  own  !  What  man, 
or  what  god  even,^  would  refuse  his  pardon  to  brave  men^ 

1  Vascones.  Sil.  Ital.,  x.,  15.  The  Vascones  lived  in  the  northeast 
of  Spain,  near  the  Pyrenees,  in  parts  of  Navarre,  Aragon,  and  old 
Castile.  They  and  the  Cantabri  were  the  most  warlike  people  of  His- 
pania  Tarrocensis.  Their  southern  boundary  was  the  Ibenis  (Ebro). 
Their  chief  cities  were  Calagurris  Nassica  (now  Calahorra  in  New 
Castile),  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Iberus;  and  Pompeion  (now  Pam- 
peluna),  at  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus,  vid.  Plin.,  III.,  iii.,  4.  It  is  doubtful  which  of 
these  two  cities  held  out  in  the  manner  alluded  to  in  the  text.  Ser- 
torius  was  assassinated  b.c.  72,  and  the  Vascones,  whose  faith  was 
pledged  to  him,  sooner  than  submit  to  Pompey  and  Metellus,  suffered 
the  most  horrible  extremities,  even  devouring  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren. Cf.  Liv..  Epit.,  xciii.  Flor.,  III.,  xxxii.  Val.  Max.,  VII.,  vi. 
Plut.  in  V.  Sert.  The  Vascones  afterward  crossed  the  Pyrenees  into 
Aquitania,  and  their  name  is  still  preserved  in  the  province  of  Gas- 
cogne. 

2  Egestas.   "When  frowning  war  against  them  stood  array 'd 

With  the  dire  famine  of  a  long  blockade."  Hodgson. 

3  Miserabile.   ii.,  18,  "  Horum  simplicitas  miserabilis." 

4  Post  omnes  herbas. 

*•  For  after  every  root  and  herb  were  gone, 
And  ever^  aliment  to  hunger  known  ; 
When  their  lean  frames  and  cheeks  of  sallow  hue 
Struck  e'en  the  foe  with  pity  at  the  view  ; 
And  all  were  ready  their  own  flesh  to  tear, 
They  first  adventured  on  this  horrid  fare."  Gifford. 

5  Virihus.  The  abstract  used  for  the  concrete.  Another  reading  is, 
Urbibus,  referring  to  Calagurris  and  Saguntus.  Va'esius  proposed  to 
read  "  Ventribus,"  which  Orellius  receives. 


SATIRE  XV. 


229 


suffering  such  fierce  extremities  ?  men,  whom  the  very  spirits 
of  those  whose  bodies  they  fed  on,  could  have  forgiven  ! 
The  precepts  of  Zeno  teach  us  a  better  lesson.  For  he  thinks 
that  some  things  only,  and  not  ally  ought  to  be  done  to  pre- 
serve life.i  But  whence  could  a  Cantabrian  learn  the  Stoics' 
doctrines  ?  especially  in  the  days  of  old  Metellus.  Now  the 
whole  world  has  the  Grecian  and  our  Athens. 

Eloquent  GauP  has  taught  the  Britons^  to  become  plead- 
ers ;  and  even  Thule*  talks  of  hiring  a  rhetorician. 

Yet  that  noble  people  whom  we  have  mentioned,  and 
their  equal  in  courage  and  fidelity,  their  more  than  equal  in 
calamity,  Saguntum,^  has  some  excuse  to  plead  for  such  a 
d  3ed  as  this  !  Whereas  Egypt  is  more  barbarous  even  than 
the  altar  of  Maeotis.    Since  that  Tauric®  inventress  of  the 


1  Quxdam  pro  vitd.  Cf.  Arist.,  Eth.,  iii.,  1, 'Ei/ta  6'  laojT  ovk  eanv 
avayKaaOiivai  aWa  [xdWov  aizoQvririov^  iraQdvra  ra  Ssivorara.  Plin., 
xxviii.,  1,  "  Vitam  quidem  non  adeo  expetendam  censemus  ut  quo- 
quo  modo  protrahenda  sit."  Sen.,  Ep.  72,  "Non  omni  pretio  vita 

emenda  est." 

2  Gallia.  Cf.  ad  i.,  44.  Suet.,  Cal.,  xx.,  "  Caligula  instituit  in  Gal- 
lia, Lugduui,  certamen  Graecse  Latinaeque  facundiae,"  Quintil.,  x., 
1.  Sat.,  vii.,  148,  "  Accipiat  te  Gallia,  vel  potius  nutricula  causidico- 
rum  Africa,  si  placuit  mercedem  ponere  linguae." 

3  Britannos.  Tac,  Agric,  xxi,,  "Ingenia  Britannorum  studiis  Gal- 
lonim  anteferre:  ut  qui  modo  linguam  Romanam  abnuebant,  elo- 
quentiam  concupiscerent." 

Thule.  Used  generally  for  the  northernmost  region  of  the  earth. 
Its  position  shifted  with  the  advance  of  their  geographical  knowl- 
edge :  hence  it  is  used  for  Sweden,  Norway,  Shetland,  or  Iceland. 
Virg.,Georg.,  i.,  30,  "Tibi  serviat  ultima  Thule." 

5  Saguntus,  now  "Mur  Viedro"  in  Valencia,  is  memorable  for  its 
obstinate  resistance  to  Hannibal,  during  a  siege  of  eight  months  (de- 
scribed Liv.,  xxi.,  5-15).  Their  fidelity  to  Rome  was  as  famous  as 
that  of  the  Vascones  to  Sertorius  ;  but  their  fate  was  more  disastrous ; 
as  Hannibal  took  Saguntus  and  razed  it  to  the  ground,  after  they  had 
endured  the  most  horrible  extremities,  whereas  the  siege  of  Calagur- 
ris  was  raised.   Cf.  ad  v.,  29. 

6  Taurica.  The  Tauri,  who  lived  in  the  peninsula  called  from 
them  Taurica  Chersonesus  (now  Crimea),  on  the  Palus  Maeotis,  used 
to  sacrifice  shipwrecked  strangers  on  the  altar  of  Diana ;  of  which 
barbarous  custom  Thoas  their  king  is  said  to  have  been  the  inventor. 
Ov.,  Trist.,  IV.,  iv.,  93;  lb.,  386,  "Thoanteae  Taurica  sacra  Deae." 
Pont.,  I.,  ii.,  80 :  III.,  ii.,  59.   Plin.,  H.  N.,  IV.,  xii.,  26.  On  this  story 

11 


230 


JUVENAL. 


impious  rite  (if  you  hold  as  worthy  of  credit  all  that  poets 
sing)  only  sacrifices  men  ;  the  victim  has  nothing  further  or 
worse  to  fear  than  the  sacrificial  knife.  But  what  calamity 
was  it  drove  these  to  crime  ?  What  extremity  of  hunger,  or 
hostile  arms  that  bristled  round  their  ramparts,  that  forced' 
these  to  dare  a  prodigy  of  guilt  so  execrable  ?  What  greater 
enormity^  than  this  could  they  commit,  when  the  land  of 
Memphis  was  parched  with  drought  to  provoke  the  wrath^ 
of  Nile  when  unwilling  to  rise  ? 

Neither  the  formidable  Cimbri,  nor  Britons,  nor  fierce 
Sarmatians  or  savage  Agathyrsi,  ever  raged  with  such  fran- 
tic brutality,  as  did  this  weak  and  worthless  rabble,  that 
wont  to  spread  their  puny  sails  in  pinnaces  of  earthenware, 

is  founded  the  Iphigenia  in  Tauris  of  Euripides,  and  from  this  was 
derived  the  custom  of  scourging  boys  at  the  altar  of  Artemis  Orthias 
in  Sparta. 

1  Gravius  cultro. 

'*  There  the  pale  victim  only  fears  the  knife, 
But  thy  fell  zeal  asks  something  more  than  life."  Hodgson. 

2  Invidiam  facerent.  Cf.  Ov.,  Art.  Am.,  i.,  647,  "  Dicitur  ^gyptos  ca- 
ruisse  juvantibus  arva  Imbribus,  atque  annos  sicca  fuisse  novem. 
Cum  Thracius  Busirin  adit,  monstratque  piari  Hospitis  eflfuso  san- 
guine posse  Jovem.  Illi  Busiris,  Fies  Jovis  hostia  primus,  Inquit  et 
^gypto  tu  dabis  hospes  opem,"  It  is  to  this  story  Juvenal  probably 
alludes.  But  invidiam facere  me&ns  also  "to  bring  into  odium  and 
unpopularity"  (cf.  Ov.,  Met.,  iv.,  547),  and  so  Gifford  understands 
it.  "  What  more  effectual  means  could  these  cannibals  devise  to  in- 
cense the  god  and  provoke  him  to  withhold  his  fertilizing  waters, 
thereby  bringing  him  into  unpopularity,"  Cf.  Lucan,  ii.,  36,  "  Nul- 
lis  defuit  aris  Invidiam  factura  parens,"  with  the  note  of  Cortius. 

3  Fictilibus  phaselis.  Evidently  taken  from  Virg.,  Georg.,  iv.,  287, 
"  Nam  qua  Pellsei  gens  fortunata  Canopi  Accolit  eff*uso  stagnantem 
flumine  Nilum  Et  circum  pictis  vehitur  sua  rura  phaselis.''  The  de- 
ficiency of  timber  in  Egypt  forced  the  inhabitants  to  adopt  any  expe- 
dient as  a  substitute.  Strabo  (lib.  xvii.)  mentions  these  vessels  of 
pottery-ware,  varnished  over  to  make  them  water-tight.  Phaselus  is 
properly  the  long  Egyptian  kidney  bean,  from  which  the  boats  de- 
rived their  name,  from  their  long  and  narrow  form.  From  their 
speed  they  were  much  used  by  pirates,  and  seem  to  have  been  of 
the  same  build  as  the  Myoparones  mentioned  by  Cicero  in  Verrem, 
ii.,  3.  Cf.  CatulL,  iv.,  1,  "Phaselus  ille  quem  videtis  hospites  Ait 
fuisse  navium  celerrimus."  Mart.,  x.,  Ep.  xxx.,  12,  "  Viva  sed  quies 
Ponti  Pictam  phaselon  adjuvante  fert  aura."  Cf.  Lucan,  v.,  518. 
Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  ii.,  29.   Virg.,  Georg.,  i.,  277.    Arist.,  Pax,  1144. 

"  Or  through  the  tranquil  water  s  easy  swell, 
Work  the  short  paddles  of  their  painted  shell."  Hodgson. 


SATIRE  XV. 


231 


and  ply  the  scanty  paddles  of  their  painted  pottery-canoe. 
You  could  not  invent  a  punishment  adequate  to  the  guilt, 
or  a  torture  bad  enough  for  a  people  in  whose  breasts  ' '  an- 
ger" and  "  hunger^'  are  convertible  terms. 

Nature  confesses  that  she  has  bestowed  on  the  human 
race  hearts  of  softest  mould,  in  that  she  has  given  us  tears.  ^ 
Of  all  our  feeling  this  is  the  noblest  part.  She  bids  us 
therefore  bewail  the  misfortunes  of  a  friend  in  distress,  and 
the  squalid  appearance  of  one  accused,  or  an  orphan^  sum- 
moning to  justice  the  guardian  who  has  defrauded  him. 
Whose  girl-like  hair  throws  doubt^  upon  the  sex  of  those 
cheeks  bedewed  with  tears  ! 

It  is  at  nature^  s  dictate  that  we  mourn  when  we  meet  the 
funeral  of  a  virgin  of  marriageable  years,  or  see  an  infant* 
laid  in  the  ground,  too  young  for  the  funeral  pyre.  For 
what  good  man,  who  that  is  worthy  of  the  mystic  torch, ^ 
such  an  one  as  Ceres^  priest  would  have  him  be,  ever  deems 
the  ills  of  others^  matter  that  concerns  not  himself? 

This  it  is  that  distinguishes  us  from  the  brute  herd.  And 

1  Lacrymas.   So  the  Greek  proverb,  ayaeol  6'  apiSaKpveg  avSpeg. 

2  Pupillum.  Cf.  i.,  45,  "  Quum  popuTum  gregibus  comitum  premit 
hie  spoliator  Pupilli  prostantis,"  x.,  222,  Quot  Basilus  vsocios,  quot 
circumscripserit  Hirrus  pupillos." 

3  Incerta.  Hor.,  ii.,  Od.  v.,  "Quein  si  puellarum  insereres  chore 
Mire  sagaces  falleret  hospites  Discrimen  obscurum  solutis  Crinibus 
ambiguoque  vultu." 

"  So  soft  his  tresses,  filled  with  trickling  pearl, 
You'd  doubt  his  sex,  and  take  him  for  a  girl."  Dryden. 

4  Minor  igne  rogi.  Infants  under  forty  days  old  were  not  burned, 
but  buried ;  and  the  place  was  called  "  Suggrundarium."  Vid.  Face, 
in  voc.   Cf.  Plin.,  H.  N.,  vii.,  16. 

5  Arcana.  Hor.,  iii.,  Od.  ii.,  26,  "Vetabo  qui  Cereris  sacrum  vul- 
garit  arcanx,  sub  isdem  sit  trabibus  fragilemve  mecum  solvat  phase- 
Ion."  Cf.  Sat.  vi.,  50, "  PauciB  adeo  Cereris  vittas  contingere  dignae." 
None  were  admitted  to  initiation  in  the  greater  mysteries  without  a 
strict  inquiry  into  their  moral  character ;  as  none  but  the  chastest 
matrons  were  allowed  to  be  priestesses  of  Ceres.  For  the  origin  of 
the  use  of  the  torch  in  the  sacred  processions  of  Ceres,  see  07id, 
Fast.,  iv.,  493,  seq. 

•5  AHena.  From  Ter.,  Heaut.,  I.,  i.,  25,  "Homo  sum ;  humani  nihil 
a  me  alienum  puto."   Cf.  Cic,  Off.,  i.,  9. 


232 


JUVENAL. 


therefore  we  alone,  endued  with  that  venerable  distinction 
of  reason^  and  a  capacity  for  divine  things,  with  an  aptitude 
for  the  practice  as  well  as  the  reception  of  all  arts  and  sci- 
ences, have  received,  transmitted  to  us  from  heaven's  high 
citadel,'^  a  moral  sense,  which  brutes  prone^  and  stooping 
toward  earth,  are  lacking  in.  In  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
the  common  Creator  of  all  vouchsafed  to  them  only  the  prin- 
ciple of  vitality ;  to  us  he  gave  souls*  also,  that  an  instinct  of 
affection  reciprocally  shared,  might  urge  us  to  seek  for,  and 
to  give,  assistance  ;  to  unite  in  one  people,  those  before 
widely-scattered  f  to  emerge  from  the  ancient  wood,  and 
abandon  the  forests^  where  our  fathers  dwelt ;  to  build 
houses,  to  join  another's  dwelling  to  our  own  homes,  that 
the  confidence  mutually  engendered  by  a  neighbor's  thresh- 


1  Sortiti  ingenium.  Cf.  Cic,  Nat.  Deor.,  ii.,  56,  "  Sunt  enim  homines 
non  ut  incolse  atque  habitatores,  sed  quasi  spectatores  superarum 
rerum  atque  coelestium,  quarum  spectaculum  ad  nullum  aliud  genus 
animantium  pertinet." 

2  Ccdesti.  Virg.,  ^n.,  vi.,  730,  **Igneus  est  ollis  vigor  et  coelestis 
origo."    Hor.,  ii.,  Sat,  ii.,  79, "  Divinse  particulam  aurse." 

3  Frona.  Ov.,  Met.,  i.,  84,  "  Pronaque  cum  spectent  animalia csetera 
terram,  Os  homini  sublime  dedit,  coelumque  tueri  jussit  et  erectos  ad 
sidera  tollere  vultus."  Sail.,  Bell.  Cat,  init.,  "Omnee  homines  qui 
sese  student  praestare  cseteris  animalibus  quae  Natura  prona  et  ventri 
obedientia  finxit." 

4  Animam.   i.,  83.    Cf.  ad  vi.,  531. 

To  brutes  our  Maker,  when  the  globe  was  new, 

Lent  only  life  :  to  men,  a  spirit  too. 

That  mutual  kindness  in  our  hearts  might  bum, 

The  good  which  others  did  us,  to  return  : 

That  scattered  thousands  might  together  come, 

Leave  their  old  woods,  and  seek  a  general  home."  Hodgson. 

5  JDispersos.  Cic,  Tusc.  Qu.,  v.,  2, "  Tu  dissipatos  homines  in  socie- 
tatem  vitse  convocasti  ;  tu  eos  inter  se  primo  domiciliis,  deinde  con- 
jugiis,  tum  literarum  et  vocum  communione  junxisti."  Hor.,  i.,  Sat. 
iii.,  104,  "  Dehinc  absistere  bello:  oppida  coeperunt  munire  et  ponere 
leges."  Ar.  Poet.,  391,  "  Sylvestres homines sacer  interpresque  deorum 
Csedibus  et  victu  fcedo  deterruit  Orpheus." 

^  Sylvas.  Ov.,  Met.,  i.,  121,  "Tum  primum  subiere  domos.  Domus 
antra  fuerunt,  et  densi  frutices,  et  vinctae  cortice  virgse."  Lucr.,  v,, 
953,  "  Sed  nemora  atque  cavos  montes  sylvasque  Golebant,  Et  frutices 
inter  eondebant  squalida  membra." 


SATIRE  XV. 


233 


old  might  add  securityi  to  our  slumbers  ;  to  cover  with  our 
arms  a  fellow-citizen"^  when  fallen  or  staggering  from  a 
ghastly  wound  ;  to  sound  the  battle -signal  from  a  common 
clarion ;  to  be  defended  by  the  same  ramparts,  and  closed 
'  in  by  the  key  of  a  common  portal. 

But  now  the  unanimity^  of  serpents  is  greater  than  ours. 
The  wild  beast  of  similar  genus  spares  his  kindred*  spots. 
When  did  ever  lion,  though  stronger,  deprive  his  fellow-lion 
of  life  ?  In  what  wood  did  ever  boar  perish  by  the  tusks  of  a 
boar^  larger  than  himself  ?  The  tigress  of  India^  maintains 
unbroken  harmony  with  each  tigress  that  ravens.  Bears, 
savage  to  others,  are  yet  at  peace  among  themselves.  But 
for  man  V  he  is  not  content  with  forging  on  the  ruthless 
anvil  the  death-dealing  steel !  While  his  progenitors,  those 
primaeval  smiths,  that  wont  to  hammer  out  naught  save 
rakes  and  hoes,  and  wearied  out  with  mattocks  and  plow- 

1  Collata  fiducia. 

"  Thus  more  securely  through  the  night  to  rest, 
And  add  new  courage  to  our  neighbor's  breast."  Hodgson. 

2  Civem.  Hence  the  proud  inscription  on  the  civic  crown,  OB. 
GIVES.  SERVATOS. 

3  Concordia.  Plin.,  H.  N.,  vii.,  in., "  Csetera  animantia  in  suo genere 
probe  degunt;  congregari  videmus,  et  stare  contra  dissimilia  :  Leo- 
num  feritas  inter  se  non  dimicat :  serpentum  morsus  non  petit  ser- 
pentes ;  nec  maris  quidem  belluse  nisi  in  diversa  genera  saeviunt.  At 
Hercule,  homini  plurima  ex  homine  sunt  mala."  Hor.,  Epod.,  vii., 
11,  "  Neque  hie  lupis  mos  nec  fuit  leonibus,  nunquam  nisi  in  dispar 
feris."    "  Homo  homini  lupus."   Prov.  Rom. 

4  Cognatis.  ' '  His  kindred  spots  the  very  pard  will  spare. '  *  Badham. 

5  Dentihus  apri.    Nor  from  his  larger  tusks  the  forest  boar 

Commission  takes  his  brother  swine  to  gore."  Dryd. 

6  Indica  tigris.  Plin.,  H.  N.,  viii.,  18,  "  Tigris  Indica  fera  velocitatis 
tremendse  est,  quae  vacuum  reperiens  cubile  fertur  praeceps  odore 
vestigans,"  et  seq. 

"  In  league  of  Friendship  tigers  roam  the  plain. 
And  bears  with  bears  perpetual  peace  maintain."  Gifford. 

7  Ast  homini. 

"  But  man,  fell  man,  is  not  content  to  make 
The  deadly  sword  for  murder's  impious  sake, 
Though  ancient  smiths  knew  only  to  produce 
Spades,  rakes,  and  mattocks  for  the  rustic's  use ; 
And  guiltless  anvils  in  those  ancient  times 
Were  not  subservient  to  the  soldier's  crimes."  Hodgson. 

11* 


234 


JUVENAL. 


shares,  knew  not  the  art  of  manufacturing  swords,  i  Here 
we  behold  a  people  whose  brutal  passion  is  not  glutted  with 
simple  murder,  but  deem"^  their  fellows'  breasts  and  arms 
and  faces  a  kind  of  natural  food. 

What  then  would  Pythagoras^  exclaim  ;  whither  would  he 
not  flee,  could  he  be  witness  in  our  days  to  such  atrocities 
as  these  !  He  that  abstained  from  all  that  was  endued  with 
life  as  from  man  himself  ;  and  did  not  even  indulge  his  ap- 
petite with  every  kind  of  pulse. 


Gladios.   Virg.,  Georg.,  ii.,  538.  • 
"  Aureus  hanc  vitam  in  terris  Saturnus  agebat. 
Necdum  etiam  audierant  inflari  classica,  necdum 
Impositos  duris  crepitare  incudibus  enses." 
2        Ev'n  this  is  trifling.   We  have  seen  a  rage 
Too  fierce  for  murder  only  to  assuage  ; 
Seen  a  whole  state  their  victim  piecemeal  tear, 
And  count  each  quivering  limb  delicious  fare !  "  Gifford. 
2  Pythagoras,  iii.,  228,  "  Culti  villicus  horti  unde  epulum  possis  cen- 
tum dare  Pythagoreis."   Holding  the  doctrine  of  the  Metempsycho- 
sis, Pythagoras  was  averse  to  shedding  the  blood  of  any  animal. 
Various  reasons  are  assigned  for  his  abstaining  from  beans ;  from 
their  shape— from  their  turning  to  blood  if  exposed  to  moonshine, 
etc.    Diog.  Laert.  says  (lib.  vlii.  cap  i),  rCjv  6e  Kvdfic^v  dTrriyopsvev 
k'X^ffBai  Sid  TO  TVEv^aruiSeig  ovraS  //aXXof  fxerexciv  rov  xpvxiKov — Kai  rag 
KaOvTTPOvs  (pavraaiag  Xeiag  Kal  drapdxovg  dnoTeXeXv.    In  which  view  Ci- 
cero seems  to  concur:  De  Div.,  ii.,  119,  "Pythagoras  et  Plato,  quo  in 
somnis  certiora  videamus.  prseparatos  quodam  cultu  atque  victu 
proficisci  ad  dormiendum  jubent:  Faba  quidem  Pythagorei  utique 
abstinuere,  quasi  vero  eo  cibo  mens  non  venter  infletur."   Cf.  Ov., 
Met.,  XV.,  60,  seq.    See  Browne's  Vulgar  Errors,  book  i.,  chap.  iv. 
(Bohn's  Antiquarian  Library):  "When  (Pythagoras)  enjoined  his 
disciples  an  absence  from  heans,  ....  he  had  no  other  intention 
than  to  dissuade  men  from  magistracy,  or  undertaking  the  public 
offices  of  the  state ;  for  by  beans  was  the  magistrate  elected  in  some 
parts  of  Greece ;  and  after  his  days,  we  read  in  Thucydides  of  the 
Council  of  the  Bean  in  Athens.  It  hath  been  thought  by  some  an 
injunction  only  of  continency." 


SATIRE  XVI. 


235 


SATIRE  XVI. 


ARGUMENT. 

Under  a  pretense  of  pointing  out  to  his  friend  Gallus  the  advantages 
of  a  military  life,  Juvenal  attacks  with  considerable  spirit  the  ex- 
clusive privileges  which  the  army  had  acquired  or  usurped,  to  the 
manifest  injury  of  the  civil  part  of  the  community. 


Who  could  possibly  enumerate,  Gallus,^  all  the  advan- 
tages that  attend  military  service  when  fortunate  ?  For  if  I 
could  but  enter  the  camp  with  lucky  omen,  then  may  its 
gate  welcome  me,  a  timid  and  raw  recruit,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  some  auspicious  planet.  For  one  hour  of  benignant 
Fate  is  of  more  avail  than  even  if  Venus''^  self  should  give 
me  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  Mars,  or  his  mother  Juno, 
that  delights  in  Samos'  sandy  shore.  ^ 

Let  us  treat,  in  the  first  place,  of  advantages  in  which  all 
share  ;  of  which  not  the  least  important  is  this,  that  no  ci- 
vilian* must  dare  to  strike  you.  Nay,  even  though  he  be 
himself  the  party  beaten,  5  he  must  dissemble  his  wrath,  and 


1  Gallus.  Of  this  friend  of  Juvenal,  as  of  Volusius  in  the  last  Sa- 
tire, nothing  is  known.  He  is  perhaps  the  same  person  whose  name 
occurs  so  frequently  in  Martial. 

2  Veneris.   For  her  influence  over  Mars,  vid.  Lucret.,  i.,  32. 

3  Samia  arend.  Cf.  Virg.,  JEn.,  i.,  15,  *'Quam  Juno  fertur  terris 
magis  omnibus  unam  Posthabita  coluisse  Samo."  Herod.,  ii.,  148  ; 
iii.,60.  Paus.,  VII.,  iv.,  4.  Athen.,  xiv.,  655 ;  xv.,  672.  The  famous 
temple  of  Juno  was  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  Leleges,  the  first 
inhabitants  of  the  island  :  her  statue,  which  was  of  wood,  was  the 
workmanship  of  Smilis,  a  contemporary  of  Daedalus.  Juno  is  said 
to  have  here  given  birth  to  Mars,  alone.  Ov.,  Fast.,  v.,  229.  Samos 
was  the  native  country  of  the  peacock,  hence  sacred  to  Juno.  Cf. 
vii.,  32. 

^  Togatus.  The  toga,  the  robe  of  peace,  as  the  Sagum  is  that  of  war. 
(So  33,  "paganum.")  Cf.  Juv.,  viii.,  240;  x.,  8,  *'Nocitura  toga  noci- 
tura  petuntur  Militia."   So  "  Cedant  arma  togae." 

^  Fulsetur.    Cf.  iii.,300. 


236 


JUVENAL. 


not  dare  to  show  the  praetor^  the  teeth  he  has  had  knocked 
out,  and  the  black  bruises  on  his  face  with  its  livid  swell- 
ings, and  all  that  is  left  of  his  eye,  which  the  physician  can 
give  him  no  hopes  of  saving.  If  he  wish  to  get  redress  for 
this,  a  Bardiac^  judge  is  assigned  him — the  soldier's  boot, 
and  stalwart  calves  that  throng  the  capacious  benches  of  the 
camp,  the  old  martial  law  and  the  precedent  of  Camillus^ 
being  strictly  observed,  '  ^  that  no  soldier  shall  be  sued  out- 
side the  trenches,  or  at  a  distance  from  the  standards. 

Of  course,  where  a  soldier  is  concerned,  the  decision  of  the 
centurion  will  needs  be  most  equitable  nor  shall  I  lack  my 
Just  revenge,  provided  only  the  ground  of  the  complaint  I 
lay  be  just  and  fair. 

Yet  the  whole  cohort  is  your  sworn  enemy ;  and  all  the 
maniples,  with  wonderful  unanimity,  obstruct  the  course  of 
justice.  Full  well  will  they  take  care  that  the  redress  you 
get  shall  be  more  grievous  than  the  injury  itself.  It  will  be 
an  act,  therefore,  worthy  of  even  the  long-tongued  Vagel- 

1  Prsstori.    "  Tremble  before  the  Praetor's  seat  to  show, 

His  livid  features,  swoll'n  with  many  a  blow : 
His  eyes  closed  up,  no  sight  remaining  there. 
Left  by  the  honest  doctor  in  despair."  Hodgson. 

2  Bardiacus.  On  the  sense  of  this  passage  all  the  commentators  are 
agreed,  though  they  arrive  at  it  by  different  routes — "  Your  judge 
will  be  some  coarse,  brutal,  uncivilized  soldier;  who  cares  nothing 
for  the  feelings  of  the  toga'd  citizen,  or  for  the  principles  of  justice." 
Marius  is  said  to  have  had  a  body-guard  of  slaves,  who  flocked  to 
him,  chiefly  Hlyrian;  whom  he  called  his  "  Bardisei."  Pliny  calls 
them  "  Vardsei,"  and  Strabo  dpStaiot.  (Cf.  Plut.,  in  vit.  Mar.  Plin., 
iii.,  32.  Strabo,  vii.,  5.)  Bardiacus  (or  Bardaicus)  may  therefore  be 
taken  absolutely,  or  with  judex,  or  with  calceus.  If  taken  alone, 
then  cucullus  is  said  to  be  understood,  as  Mart.,  xiv.,  128,  "  Gallia 
Santonico  vestit  te  Bardocucullo."  i.,  Ep.  liv.,  5;  xiv.,  139;  IV.,  iv.. 
5.  This  cowl  "  was  made  of  goats'  hair.  If  taken  with  calceus,  it 
would  imply  some  such  kind  of  shoe  as  the  "  Udo  "  in  Ep.  xiv.,  140. 

3  Camillo.  This  law  was  passed  by  Camillus,  while  dictator,  dur- 
ing the  siege  of  Veil ;  to  prevent  his  soldiers  absenting  themselves 
from  the  camp,  on  the  plea  of  civil  business.  It  led,  of  course,  in 
time  to  the  grossest  abuses. 

Justissima. 

Oh!  righteous  court,  where  generals  preside. 

And  regimental  rogues  are  justly  tried !  "  Hodgson. 


SATIRE  XVI. 


237 


lius'  mulish  heart, ^  while  you  have  still  a  pair  of  legs  to 
provoke  the  ire  of  so  many  buskins,  so  many  thousand  hob- 
nails For  who  can  go  so  far  from  Rome  ?  Besides,  who 
will  be  such  a  Pylades^  as  to  venture  beyond  the  rampart  of 
the  camp  ?  So  let  us  dry  up  our  tears  forthwith,  and  not 
trouble  our  friends,  who  will  be  sure  to  excuse  themselves.  , 
When  the  judge  calls  on  you,  Produce  your  witness,"*  let 
the  man,  whoever  he  may  be,  that  saw  the  cuffs,  have  the 
courage  to  stand  forth  and  say,  I  saw^  the  act,"  and  I  will 
hold  him  worthy  of  the  beard,  ^  and  worthy  of  the  long  hair 
of  our  ancestors.  Yon  could  with  greater  ease  suborn  sl  false 
witness  against  a  civilian,'^  than  one  who  would  speak  the 

1  Mulino.  Perhaps  Stapylton's  is  the  best  translation  of  this  epi- 
thet of  the  declaimer  in  a  hopeless  cause.  He  calls  him  **  a  desper- 
ate ass."   Others  read  "  Mutinensi." 

2  Caligas.  iii.,  247,  "Planta  mox  undique  magn^  calcor,  et  in 
digito  clavus  mihi  militis  hseret "  (and  322,  "  Adjutor  gelidos  veniam 
caligatus  in  agros  ").  This  was  one  of  the  tender  recollections  Um- 
britius  had  when  leaving  Rome.  The  caliga,  being  a  thick  sole  with 
no  upper  leather,  bound  to  the  foot  with  thongs,  and  studded  under- 
neath with  iron  nails,  would  be  a  fearful  thing  to  encounter  on 
one's  shins  or  toes.  (Justin  says,  "Antiochus'  soldiers  were  shod 
with  gold ;  treading  that  under  foot  for  which  men  fight  with 
iron.") 

3  Pylades. 

"  And  Where's  the  Pylades,  the  faithful  friend, 
That  shall  thy  journey  to  the  camp  attend  ? 
Be  wise  in  time !   See  those  tremendous  shoes ! 
Nor  ask  a  service  which  e'en  fools  refuse."  Badham. 
*  Datesiem.   Cf.  iii.,  137. 

5  Vidi.   Cf.  vii.,  13,  "  Quam  si  dicas  sub  judice  Vidi,  quod  non  vi- 
disti." 

6  Barbd.  Cf.  ad  iv.,  103.  Barbers  were  introduced  from  Sicily  to 
Rome  by  P.  Ticinius  Msena,  a.u.c.  454.  Scipio  Africanus  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  Roman  who  shaved  daily.  Cf.  Plin.,  vii.,  95. 
Hor.,  i.,  Od.,  xii.,  41,  "Incomptis  Curium  capillis."  ii.,  Od.  xv.,  11, 
"  Intonsi  Catonis."   Tib.,  II.,  1.,  34,  "  Intonsis  avis." 

7  Paganum.  Cf.  ad  1.  8.  It  appears  that  under  the  emperors  hus- 
bandmen were  exempt  from  military  service  in  order  that  the  land 
might  not  fall  out  of  cultivation.  The  "  paganus,"  therefore,  is  op- 
posed to  the  '*  armatus  "  here,  and  by  Pliny,  Epist.  x.,  18,  "  Et  milites 
et  pagani."  Epist.  vii.,  25,  "  Ut  in  castris,  sic  etiam  in  Uteris  nostris 
(sunt),  plures  culto  pagano  quos  cinctos  et  armatos,  diligentius  scru- 
tatus  invenies."  Pagus  is  derived  from  the  Doric  Trayd,  because  vil- 
lages were  originally  formed  round  springs  of  water.  Cf.  Hooker's 
Eccl.  Pol.,  lib.  v.,  c.  80. 


238 


JUVENAL. 


truth  against  the  fortune  and  the  dignity  of  the  man-at- 
arms. 

Now  let  us  observe  other  prizes  and  other  solid  advan- 
tages of  the  military  life.  If  some  rascally  neighbor  has  de- 
^  frauded  me  of  a  portion  of  the  valley  of  my  paternal  fields, 
or  encroached  on  my  land,  and  removed  the  consecrated 
stone  from  the  boundary  that  separates  our  estates,  that 
stone  which  my  pulse  has  yearly^  honored  with  the  meal- 
cake  derived  from  ancient  days,  or  if  my  debtor  persists  in 
refusing  repayment  of  the  sum  I  lent  him,  asserting  that  the 
deed  is  invalid  and  the  signature  a  forgery  :  I  shall  have  to 
wait  a  whole  year  occupied  with  the  causes  of  the  whole 
nation,  before  my  case  comes  on.  But  even  then  I  must  put 
up  with  a  thousand  tedious  delays,  a  thousand  difficulties. 
So  many  times  the  benches  only  are  prepared  ;  then,  when 
the  eloquent  Cseditius^  is  laying  aside  his  cloak,  and  Fuscus 

"  With  much  more  ease  false  witnesses  you'll  find 
To  swear  away  the  life  of  some  poor  hind, 
Than  get  the  true  ones  all  they  know  to  own 
Against  a  soldier's  fortune  and  renown."  Hodgson. 

1  Puis  annua.  Cf.  Dionys.  Hal.,  ii.,  9,  ^eovT  te  yap  nyovvrai  rovT 
repfiovaT^  Kai  Srvovaiv  avroiT  eri  rcov  ^iv  ifixpvx^v  ovSev'  ov  yap  '6<tiov 
alfidrretv  rovS"  TreKavovT  61  Kfijir^TpoT^  KaX  aWaT  tlvolT  Kapiroiv 
drrapxas:  For  they  hold  the  boundary  stones  to  be  gods  ;  and  sac- 
rifice to  them  nothing  that  has  life,  because  it  would  be  impious  to 
stain  the  stones  with  blood  ;  but  they  offer  wheaten  cakes,  and  other 
first-fruits  of  their  crops."  The  divisions  of  land  were  maintained  by 
investing  the  stones  which  served  as  landmarks  with  a  religious 
character  :  the  removal  of  these,  therefore,  added  the  crime  of  sacri- 
lege to  that  of  dishonesty,  and  brought  down  on  the  heathen  the 
curse  invoked  in  the  purer  system  of  theology,  "  Cursed  be  he  that 
removeth  his  neighbor's  landmark."  Deut.,  xxvii.,  17.  To  these 
rude  stones,  afterward  sculptured  (like  the  Hermae)  into  the  form  of 

'  the  god  Terminus  above,  the  rustics  went  in  solemn  procession  an- 
nually, and  offered  the  produce  of  the  soil ;  flowers  and  fruits,  and 
the  never-failing  wine,  and  "  mola  salsa."  Numa  is  said  by  Plutarch 
to  have  introduced  the  custom  into  Italy,  and  one  of  his  anathemas 
is  still  preserved  :  **Qui  terminum  exarasit,  ipsus  et  boves  sacrei 
sunto."  Cf.  Blunt's  Vestiges,  p.  204.  Hom.,  II.,  xxi., 405.  Virg.,  ^n., 
xii.,  896 

2  Cxditio.  xiii.,  197, "Poena  ssevior  illis  quas  et  Cseditius  gravis  in- 
venit  et  Rhadamanthus."  But  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  same 


SATIRE  XVI. 


239 


must  retire  for  a  little,  though  all  prepared,  we  must  break 
up  ;  and  battle  in  the  tediously-protracted  arena  of  the 
court.  But  in  the  case  of  those  who  wear  armor,  and  buckle 
on  the  belt,  whatever  time  suits  them  is  fixed  for  the  hearing 
of  their  ca-use,  nor  is  their  fortune  frittered  away  by  the  slow 
drag-chain^  of  the  law. 

Besides,  it  is  only  to  soldiers  that  the  privilege  is  granted, 
of  making  their  wills  while  their  fathers  are  still  alive. ^  For 
it  has  been  determined  that  all  that  has  been  earned  by  the 
hard  toil  of  military  service  should  not  be  incorporated  with 
that  sum  of  which  the  father  holds  the  entire  disposal.  And 
so  it  is,  that  while  Coranus  follows  the  standards  and  earns 
his  daily  pay,  his  father,  though  tottering  on  the  edge  of  the 
grave,  pays  court  to  his  son  that  he  may  make  him  his  heir. 

His  duties  regularly  discharged  procure  the  soldier  ad- 
vancement ;  and  yield  to  every  honest  exertion^  its  justly 

person  is  intended  here,  as  also  whether  Fuscus  is  the  same  whose 
wife's  drinking  propensities  are  hinted  at,  xii.,  45,  "dignum  sitiente 
Pholo,  vel  conjuge  Fusci."  (Pliny  has  an  Epistle  to  Corn.  Fuscus, 
vii.,  9.)  He  is  probably  the  Aurelius  Fuscus  to  whom  Martial  wrote, 
vii.,  Ep.  28. 

1  Sufflamine.   "  Nor  are  their  wealth  and  patience  worn  away 

By  the  slow  drag-chain  of  the  law's  delay."  Gifford. 

2  Tedandi  vivo  patre.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  tlie  power  of 
a  father  over  his  son  was  absolute ,  extending  even  to  life  and  death, 
and  terminating  only  at  the  decease  of  one  of  the  parties.  Hence 
"  peculium  "  is  put  for  the  sum  of  money  that  a  father  allows  a  son, 
or  a  master  a  slave,  to  have  at  his  own  disposal.  But  even  this  per- 
mission was  revocable.  A  soldier,  who  was  sui  juris,  was  allowed  to 
name  an  heir  in  the  presence  of  three  or  four  witnesses,  and  if  he 
fell,  this  "  nuda  voluntas  testatoris  "  was  valid.  This  privilege  was 
extended  by  Julius  Csesar  to  those  who  were  "  in  potestate  patris." 

Liberam  testandi  factionem  concessit,  D.  Julius  Csesar:  sed  ea  con- 
cessio  temporalis  erat:  postea  vero  D.  Titus  dedit :  post  hoc  Domi- 
tianus  :  postea  Divis  Nerva  plenissimam  indulgentiam  in  milites 
contulit:  eamque  et  Trajanus  secutus  est."  "Julius  Caesar  granted 
them  the  free  power  of  making  a  will;  but  this  was  only  a  temporary 

Erivilege.  It  was  renewed  by  Titus  and  Domitian.  Nerva  afterward 
estowed  on  them  full  powers,  which  were  continued  to  them  by 
Trajan."  Vid.  Ulnian,  23,  §  10.  The  old  Schol.,  however,  says  this 
privilege  was  confined  to  the  "peculium  Castrense ;"  but  he  is  prob- 
ably mistaken. 

2  Labor.  Ruperti  suggests  "  favor,"  to  avoid  the  harshness  of  the 
phrase  labor  reddit  sua  dona  labori''   Browne  reads  reddi. 


240  JUVENAL. 


merited  guerdon.^  For  doubtless  it  appears  to  be  the  interest 
of  the  general  himself,  that  he  that  proves  himself  brave 
should  also  be  most  distinguished  for  good  fortune,  that  all 
may  glory  in  their  trappings,  ^  all  in  their  golden  chains. 

f  1  Dona.  Cf.  Sil.,  xv.,  254,  "Turn  merita  sequantur  donis  et  praemia 
Virtus  sanguine  parta  cap  it :  Phaleris  hie  pectora  fulget :  Hie  torque 
aurato  circumdat  bellica  colla." 

^Phaleris.  Cf.  ad  xi.,  103, Ut  phaleris  gaud  eret  equus."  Siccius 
Dentatus  is  said  to  have  had  25  phalerae,  83  torques,  18  hastse  purse, 
160  bracelets,  14  civic,  8  golden,  3  mural,  and  1  obsidional  crown. 
Plin.,  VII.,  xxviii.,  9  ;  xxxiii.,  2. 


Here  the  satire  terminates  abruptly.  The  conclusion  is  too  tame  to 
be  such  as  Juvenal  would  have  left  it,  even  were  the  whole  subject 
thoroughly  worked  up.  It  is  probably  an  unfinished  draught.  The 
commentators  are  nearly  equally  balanced  as  to  its  being  the  work 
of  Juvenal  or  not ;  but  one  or  two  of  the  touches  are  too  masterly  to 
be  by  any  other  hand. 


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